


The Witch Cycle

by JessicaMDawn



Series: The Sword in the Stone [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthurian legend - Freeform, Court Sorcerer Merlin, Enchantments, F/F, F/M, Good morgana, M/M, Weddings, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-08 20:58:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5513096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaMDawn/pseuds/JessicaMDawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>King Arthur and his knights have faced many challenges on the road to uniting Albion, but adventures still abound in Camelot. Magic is no longer illegal, but it still poses a threat to the unprepared. Arthurian legend is full of witches with schemes. Three such women find their way into the lives of our favorite heroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Chapel Perilous

**Author's Note:**

> So begins the last leg of this journey. Three more adventures and then it's over. I'm working on the 'Deleted Scenes' from The Once and Future King, but other than that, this will be the end of my time with this The Sword in the Stone series. It's been a lovely run. You've all been fantastic. I hope you like these final stories. Enjoy!
> 
> All of the amazing art in these chapters was done by De Ville Trades (devilletrades@gmail.com). Commission her because she's awesome!
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

...

...

The sky was bright and clear, and despite it being the middle of summer the weather wasn't too hot. All in all, Lancelot had to say that today was a perfect day.

"I'm glad the 'bandit problem' was actually just three kids playing a prank," Luned said from the horse next to him.

Ah yes, that. Lancelot nodded. "Me as well. Though why someone would think hiding livestock and crops in the woods is funny is beyond me, if I'm honest."

Luned shrugged, a fond and nostalgic expression on his youthful face. "I imagine I caused just as many problems when I was young. Duke Landunet really had no idea how to handle me back then."

Now Lancelot laughed, the good weather and fortune on their mission making him feel light. "I should think so. A servant boy chasing his daughter around pretending to be a knight," he teased, but it made Luned look uncomfortable so he stopped and instead gave a pleasant smile. "I was just like you, though without the Lady to impress."

"But you have one now," Luned corrected with a smirk.

Before Lancelot could respond, his horse jolted to the side, unseating him. He hit the ground hard and groaned, pushing himself slowly to his feet as Luned pulled his horse around.

"Are you alright?" Luned asked. "What happened?"

"Oh gentle knight," a kind voice said, drawing their attention back the way they'd come. A woman with skin as thin as old wet lace and as white as starlight stood there, her hair dry and brittle. Her clothing barely clung to her thin frame. Only her voice was strong. "Won't you help me?"

Lancelot glanced from the woman, to Luned, to his horse, and back.

"How can we help you?" he asked kindly.

The woman frowned. "No. Only you," she insisted. "Not the false one."

Now Lancelot was thoroughly confused. What was false about Luned? He was just as much a knight as Lancelot, and _he_ hadn't just been unseated by his horse like a beginning rider. They were both wearing armor and Camelot's colors. Maybe the woman was sick and her mind was clouded.

He took a step closer to her, hiding a wince when his shoulder gave him some pain. "Alright then, miss. How can I help you?"

The young but malnourished woman walked slowly up to Lancelot as she spoke. "My name is Hellawes. I'm hungry, and only a man can give me what I need. Only his life, full of courage and energy, can satisfy me. Can you satisfy me, sir knight?"

Before his eyes, her hair grew thick and lush. Her sallow skin filled out and became pink with a healthy flush. It was like watching a skeleton brought back to life. Her hair was like fire while her skin was the fresh wood to be burned. She was gorgeous and Lancelot could not look away.

The ring of a blade leaving its sheath tickled at Lancelot's mind and the woman's visage dimmed - not so radiant, not so unbearably lovely, but still entrancing.

"Back away from him, witch," Luned's voice called out with all the authority a knight could muster. "Or I will cut you down where you stand."

Witch?

Obviously, Lancelot realized with a jolt, taking a step back from where the witch's hands were almost touching him now. When had she gotten so close?

"Kind knight, will you come with me?" the woman, the witch, asked. Her voice was gentle like a breeze now.

Lancelot shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face. "You cannot ensnare me. I am a knight of Camelot and my will is strong." He took another step back, ignoring his shoulder's twinge, and it felt like wading through sludge.

The woman smiled like she knew a secret. "All men give in with time," she said, as if promising him something fantastic. "Your honor only gives me more strength."

It was true, he realized. Though she had stopped advancing and he had backed away, Lancelot could not tear his gaze away from hers and, even as he realized this, he felt his body stop responding to him entirely. He couldn't move anymore, couldn't step any further away. She was binding him without words.

"Lancelot," Luned's voice came from his left. "Fight her. Draw your sword!"

His mind was growing foggy. The bright day was no more than a mist to him now. The witch had him.

"Luned," he whispered, and hoped his fellow knight heard. "Tell Gwen I love her."

Luned's copper hair came into view along with his wide eyes. "What are you saying?" he asked, his sword pointed at the woman several feet away from them. "What's wrong?"

Lancelot couldn't see Luned anymore, though the other knight hadn't moved. All he could see were those eyes. All he could hear was the woman's soft humming.

He took a deep breath. "Tell the king-"

…

…

"My father thanks you for the generous birthday gift you sent."

Lady Laudine, the Countess of the Fountain of Landuc, and daughter of Duke Landunet, was truly a sight to behold. Her wavy hair glittered like spun gold and contrasted her pale skin beautifully. Arthur knew many in Camelot, both men and women, who would be saddened if the Duke ever called her home for good.

Arthur inclined his head at her as they walked toward the courtyard. "It was gladly given. He was invaluable in securing a treaty with Caerleon and he has been a good friend to Camelot ever since." He smiled at her. "Luned will be happy you've returned."

A smile blossomed on Laudine's lips as if she could not help it, the happiness radiating out from her. It was obvious she was in love. "Not as happy as I will be to see Luned," she said, then gave a teasing smile. "And I hear your Merlin has been away as well. Surely you are anticipating his return anxiously."

Arthur gave a single laugh. "Hardly. The castle is quieter without him."

There was a minor explosion from the direction of the knight's training field and a few startled shouts. No fire leapt up the castle walls and the shouting died down immediately, though, so instead of running to help, Arthur merely blushed in embarrassment at Laudine's laughing eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Well that's what you get from knights practicing magic without proper guidance, I suppose." He glanced around for something, anything, to talk about. "Merlin, yes, Merlin. He's only been gone a few days, dealing with Court Sorcerer business. He'll return shortly. I expect by tomorrow at the latest."

Just as they finished walking through the courtyard and were about to enter the hall on the other side, an entirely different kind of shout caught Arthur's attention: people shouting in alarm from the direction of town, and the sound of racing hooves. Then Luned burst into view on his horse, Lancelot's running behind his, going full speed.

Luned pulled the horses to a sliding stop and glanced around frantically. Seeing Arthur, he hurried the horses closer, even as Arthur himself descended back into the courtyard to greet him. The knight was pale and sweating, with wide eyes. Something was definitely wrong.

"Your majesty," Luned greeted, sliding from the saddle and dropping into a bow. His eyes landed on Laudine and he appeared to calm minutely, but not enough to look less harried. He dropped a kiss on Laudine's cheek before turning his attention to Arthur again. "Something's happened. I need Merlin. Is he returned yet?"

Arthur shook his head. "Not yet, no. Luned, what happened?" He glanced at Lancelot's horse. "Where is Lancelot?"

Just as Luned opened his mouth to explain, a bird let out a cry overhead and then a brown Merlin falcon dove into view. It flapped its wings, hovering momentarily in the space next to Arthur, and then it morphed into the form of Merlin – clothes and all – standing at the right hand of the king.

Merlin smiled at Arthur. "I'm home!" he sang. "The water problem turned out to be more of a damming issue than a magic one, but I managed to-"

"Merlin!" Luned shouted, grabbing the sorcerer by the sleeve of his tunic and stopping his report. "You have to hurry. A witch kidnapped Lancelot!"

Merlin's joyful smile vanished and his eyes hardened. He waved at a passing servant and, when they drew closer, motioned to the horses. She nodded and hurried away to get the stable hands without them ever speaking to each other. Merlin then put his hand on Luned's shoulder.

"Explain it as we walk. Arthur," he said, flicking his eyes to the king.

It wasn't really a question. Of course Arthur was going to follow. He bowed his goodbyes to Laudine, who seemed a bit shell shocked, and then left with Merlin and Luned as Luned recounted what happened with the witch, Hellawes.

Luned finished his tale just as they reached the tower rooms where Gaius, Luke, and Merlin lived. "And then Lancelot vanished, right before my eyes," he said. "I swear the witch never touched him. One second, he was barely a foot from me, the next, Lancelot and the witch were both gone. No trace of them. I ran back as fast as I could."

"What happened to Lancelot?"

All three men stopped and looked guiltily at where Gwen was sitting with a small boy and Gaius. Gaius was applying a cream to the boy's chest and both doctor and patient pretended they didn't exist in the same room as the others as soon as Gwen's clipped tone died in the air.

"Erm," Merlin stumbled. "He's missing, kidnapped by a witch…." Gwen's eyes went hard like Merlin's had moments ago and suddenly Merlin snapped his fingers. "Actually, Gwen, you could help me find him."

"She can?" Arthur asked curiously. "How?"

Merlin walked over to Gwen and motioned to her neck, then gave her a beseeching look. Gwen furrowed her brows before pulling on the string that hung around her neck. It was a smooth, leaf green stone with a hole through it, where the thick dark string held it up.

"Lancelot's?" Merlin asked.

Gwen nodded. "It was his mothers before him." She held it tight. "Do you need it?"

"I can use it, well, the connection it makes between you and Lancelot, to figure out where he is," Merlin explained. Gwen made to remove it and Merlin gently stopped her. "No, keep it on. It'll work better if you're wearing it."

…

…

Arthur still didn't understand how Merlin and magic worked.

All of the knights under Merlin's tutelage had to say a spell to cast one. They had to study and make hand motions and their eyes didn't flash when they did magic. Merlin sometimes needed spells and sometimes didn't. His eyes were always melted gold with power. Sometimes he made a hand motion and other times things just happened around him. And if he needed a spell that wasn't in a book, he just turned around and made one up! Arthur honestly didn't know if Merlin had known a spell to find Lancelot using that necklace or if he came up with in the moment. With Merlin and magic, anything was possible.

To find Lancelot, Merlin had placed his hands on Gwen's shoulders while she held the stone she was wearing. He never said a spell, but Arthur saw the gold of his eyes reflect in Gwen's when the magic was cast. Both of them seemed to freeze in time for several seconds and then Gwen took a deep breath, as if she'd been underwater for a long time. Merlin hugged her until she stopped shaking and apologized in her ear in quiet tones.

When he pulled away, Merlin turned and said "I can find him."

"Take some knights with you," Arthur replied. He couldn't go with them because he was waiting on time sensitive news from Mercia, as well as dealing with a visiting noble from Nemeth. Merlin knew that, but Arthur still felt a bit guilty sending him off alone.

No, not alone. He had the knights and Merlin was more than capable of solo missions. He'd just returned from one, after all. And maybe that was why Arthur hated sending him back out again so soon.

"I'm coming," Luned said definitively. "I was there when he was taken. I have to help bring him home."

Merlin nodded. "Alright, let's go. The faster we get moving, the less chance that the witch'll move him before we catch her."

Almost as soon as Merlin, Gwen, and Luned fled the room, Gaius cleared his throat. He pat the boy on the shoulder. "Rest. I'll return shortly."

The young boy nodded, looking miserable in his sickness. Then Gaius stood and motioned for Arthur to join him just outside the door. He glanced to either side before focusing on his king. The secrecy already had Arthur's interest peaked.

"I think it's time we discuss what I meant to tell you before the war with Cenred," he said.

A few minutes later, the boy inside the physician's chambers would jump at the angry shout of "WHAT?!" that came from outside, but even when Arthur's boots thudded down the stairs a minute or so after that, it was already too late to stop the rescue team from leaving.

…

…

Merlin had rounded up the first knights he could see, which happened to be Gareth and Lamorak chatting as they came into the courtyard, still in their armor from training earlier. Upon hearing what happened, the two men had been more than glad to head out to save Lancelot.

They stopped for dinner hours later, to let both the horses and the people rest. Of the lot of them, only Gwen wasn't tired. Gareth and Lamorak had been training before the trip, Luned had just returned from a mission, and Merlin had spent the better part of the day as a bird flying home.

"I think I was a bit too hasty in picking my team," Merlin sighed, plopping down on a log by the fire. "What good will we be if we're too tired to fight tomorrow?"

Gareth shrugged as he pulled his bedroll off his horse. "We can distract the witch long enough to let Lancelot escape," he teased, then let out an 'omph' as he turned and ran into Luned, causing the bedroll to punch him in the gut. "Oh, uh, sor-I mean," he blushed and backed away from the younger knight. "So sorry."

Luned raised an eyebrow at him and Gareth hurried around the fire to roll out his bed away from the others, his face bright red and a scowl on his lips. With a shake of his head, Luned walked the three extra steps to take him to his own horse and bedroll.

"That was weird," Lamorak remarked almost absently. He poked a stick at the fire. "Never seen Gareth as the skittish type."

Gwen shrugged. "Maybe he…er…likes Luned?" she said speculatively, looking cautiously between both parties involved, since they were hardly out of earshot. She'd seen Gareth acting strangely around Luned ever since they all returned from the Albion Battle. Maybe he'd fallen in love then?

She saw Gareth tense and stop messing with his bedroll, but he didn't answer.

"I thought Gareth and Kay-?" Merlin ventured, also glancing between the two men.

Luned sighed and knocked Merlin on the head as he sat down beside the wizard, to which Merlin let out a soft 'hey' of protest.

"Stop gabbing like school children," Luned admonished, causing the three sitting around the fire to flush in embarrassment. "If it means that much to you," and he made sure his soft toned voice was loud enough that Gareth was sure to hear as well, "We're both in committed relationships we aren't about to break, and besides…Gareth really isn't my type."

Surprisingly, this made Gareth un-tense, as if knowing his affections weren't returned was a good thing. Then again, Luned and Merlin both said his affections were toward Kay, so Gwen didn't know what he was tense about in the first place.

Gareth joined them around the fire a few moments later. "So how far away is Lancelot and what should we expect from the witch when we get there?"

All eyes turned to Luned now and the knight shifted into a more comfortable position, staring at the fire. "Hellawes said that…Well I think she gets her life by draining it out of courageous men. She said Lancelot's honor gave her strength, and then she vanished with him. So...Any man who nears her is in danger. I don't know how close you have to be or if she has to focus on you, but she was still at least ten feet away when Lancelot stopped responding to me and she started looking younger, so I'd say she doesn't have to be too close."

It was hard to accept that Lancelot might be losing his life right at that very moment. Unless it was in a great battle, it was almost unheard of for a Camelot knight to die. It was a difficult concept. He'd come back from the Albion Battle, injured but alive. Gwen wasn't sure how she would handle him dying like this, alone, against some unknown witch. Him dying at all would tear her heart, but at least in battle they knew the risks. This was…this was so abrupt and unbearable.

Gwen wasn't too surprised that Hellawes took Lancelot, actually. How many times had the other knights commented on his honor, his bravery, his courage? Gwen knew that Lancelot's heart was as noble as any king's, despite his low birth. If this witch got her power from the honor of men, then Lancelot was a sure bet.

However, Luned was just as brave and courageous, Gwen was sure, so why Hellawes didn't just take them both was puzzling. Maybe she could only control one man at a time, or only feed off one man at a time. It felt like Gwen was missing something, like she didn't know something about Hellawes that she needed to know.

"We'll arrive before noon," Merlin was saying when Gwen came out of her thoughts. "If we're quiet, it's possible we'll be able to get in and grab Lancelot without Hellawes knowing we've even been there."

Lamorak snorted. "What are the chances a witch doesn't know we're in her home?"

Merlin shrugged. "Not likely, but it's nice to hope."

Yes, it was always nice to hope.

…

…

It wasn't so much that Hellawes had a house as she had a chapel.

It was a simple building. From outside they could see the larger sanctuary, a bell tower with no bell, and a small storage room built into the side. It wouldn't take long to search, but there would be nowhere to hide from Hellawes if she was inside with Lancelot.

They tied their horses to nearby trees, just out of view of the chapel, and then approached silently on foot. The front door opened without a creek, to their relief, but was only large enough for one person to enter at a time. Lamorak went first, followed by Luned, then Merlin, then Gwen, with Gareth bringing up the rear.

"Well apart from being completely empty, it's rather nice," Lamorak commented, lowering his sword.

He was right. There were seven rows of pews on either side of the nave and a minimalistic chancel at the end with an altar baring only a single wooden cross. There was an inconspicuous door to the right of the lectern that likely led up to the bell tower located at the side of the chapel. There wasn't a person in sight.

"I don't understand," Merlin murmured, walking forward and casting his eyes about.

"Maybe you could try the spell again," Gwen suggested, following him.

Luned ran his gloved hand over the seat of a pew and frowned at the thick layer of dust. Gareth took a seat in a pew on the other side, heedless of the dirt, and Lamorak examined the window glass.

Merlin shook his head. "No. No this is definitely the place," Merlin said. "There's magic woven around every stone." He gripped his hair. "I don't understand," he repeated quietly, frustrated. The spell had worked. He knew it had. So why couldn't they find Lancelot?!

Luned joined them near the chancel. "Perhaps they're hiding in the bell tower, or the storage room, or maybe there's an undercroft," he said gently, placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Just because they aren't hiding in the sanctuary doesn't mean they aren't here."

Instead of comforting Merlin, like he knew Luned had meant, the words only made Merlin more tense. Obviously Luned was right. The sanctuary wasn't the only room in the chapel. Why hadn't Merlin thought of that? He'd taken notice of the storage room and the bell tower himself upon seeing the chapel in the first place. He'd even considered splitting them up to search each room at the same time. Why hadn't he remembered that?

"Perhaps we should take a moment to pray," Lamorak said lightly, wandering toward them with his sword back in its sheath and smiling.

Luned frowned. "I hardly think that's necessary. We could search the whole chapel in the time it takes to say a prayer."

He was right again. The chapel was small enough that twenty steps in almost any direction would take them either outside or to another room. Still, taking the time to pray sounded like just as good a plan to Merlin as continuing the search. Merlin shook his head. He didn't follow the new religion. Why would he want to pray at an altar to it?

From the pews, Gareth let out a long sigh. "What good would we be even if we did find them?" he asked, placing his hands behind his head. "I'm still tired from training yesterday and I don't think anyone else is much better off. Let's rest a bit now that we're here, and search later."

Right. Merlin had used a lot of magic yesterday, after all. He'd helped that village repair buildings damaged by the flooding it had been experiencing, then transformed into a bird and flown for hours to get home, then did that locator spell on Gwen to find Lancelot, then rode until sunset with the knights to get most of the way to this chapel. He ought to be exhausted still and want a rest, just like Gareth said.

But ever since the phoenix brought him back, Merlin had had magic to spare. The repairs and the flying and the locator spell hadn't weakened him magically, and he was used to riding for much longer when hunting with Arthur. And Lancelot needed them, they couldn't just stop.

Gwen frowned. "The witch could arrive at any moment, or be hiding behind that door," she motioned to the tower door, "or Lancelot could already be-" She paused to take a deep breath and Luned cast her an understanding look laced with guilt. Gwen shook her head. Her voice was sharp when she spoke again "And you want to take a nap?"

Lamorak was already lying down on the front pew. "We can wait an hour or two," he said, shifting to try and fit his bulky frame on the thin seat. "Hellawes can't eat someone that fast."

Now Gwen looked murderous. "You don't know that!" she shouted, though the coating of dust and the close walls of the chapel didn't let it echo much. "I don't understand. Why are you acting this way?"

Gareth turned and flopped down onto his pew as well, letting out a content breath and shutting his eyes. Neither knight would answer her. Merlin couldn't get his mouth to work either. He had no explanation for them, nor for how he too felt no rush to search for Lancelot. His mind felt foggy, like it did when he had a fever but without the pain.

"Are you Camelot knights or aren't you?!" Gwen demanded.

A hand landed on her shoulder and Gwen looked over to see Luned casting his sharp gaze around the room. "Shhh," he said.

"But-"

"Shh," Luned repeated. His voice came out quiet and wary when he spoke. "It's the spell. The witch's spell is on this whole chapel."

Oh right, Merlin thought as he took a seat on the chancel step. Hellawes had said all men give in with time.

She really was a talented witch. Though maybe her spell on the chapel was what drained her so much and made taking the lives of men to sustain herself so necessary. Merlin would never know, he supposed. He didn't even need spells half the time, and he never worried he was using too much magic and would tire himself out.

Pain in Merlin's left cheek made him snap his eyes open, and only then did he realize he'd ever shut them. Gwen was standing over him, holding her hand and frowning with worried eyes.

"Ow," Merlin complained, rubbing his aching cheek gently. "Gwen, did you just slap me?"

The worry began to fade and she gave a small smile. "Yes. I did. You were falling asleep, just like the knights." She blinked once and amended, "Well, like Lamorak and Gareth."

Luned stood uncomfortably to Gwen's right, sword still in hand and still glancing around for possible attacks, as if he could see the spell at work and defeat it himself.

"The spell!" Merlin gasped, standing up so fast he almost made Gwen fall over trying to move out of his space. "I need to break the spell so we can find Lancelot, otherwise we'll all just keep getting sidetracked by it."

Gwen nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She motioned to the room at large.

Shaking his head and body, as if to shake off the last dredges of the spell clinging to him, Merlin took a deep breath. He held his hands out in front of him. "Áblinnan galdor," he spoke in a clear voice.

The spell actually made him shake as it shattered around him. The quaint church seemed to lose a bit of its charming appeal. Merlin became acutely aware of how dusty it was, as if no one had actually used this chapel in years. He wondered if Gwen had been able to see it this way all along.

Luned grabbed Lamorak by the shoulder and shoved him off his pew, making it shift several inches as his large mass hit the ground. Before he could even make an appropriately offended noise at having his nap interrupted, Luned was already at the back of the chapel and repeating the action with Gareth. Gareth let out an unseemly squawk as he fell. If Luned's smirk was anything to go by, he thought the treatment adequate punishment for sleeping on the job.

He waved at the young knight at his feet. "Let's go. You three got your precious rest. Now let's do what we came here to do: save Lancelot."

Face red with shame, Gareth pushed himself to his feet and moved to join the others at the chancel without meeting Luned's eyes.

"I'm actually impressed," Lamorak commented, sounding embarrassed but trying to hide it. "Luned's such a scrawny guy, but it seems his will is stronger than even Merlin's."

Luned rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up and go check the bell tower for witches." He motioned to Gwen. "And take Gwen with you in case you need a good slap."

…

…

There was no witch in the bell tower, though Lamorak and Gwen returned with news that there were skeletons dressed in knightly garb all along the stairs and lying on the floor at the top. Gareth and Luned checked the storage room outside and found herbs and strange stones, but no people. Merlin examined the sanctuary before beginning to make his way around the chapel exterior, looking for a possible undercroft door.

He'd just located the door, in peak condition compared to the rest of the chapel but hidden by the tall grass that surrounded the building, when the others appeared together to report what they'd found.

"Then I suppose Luned was right about checking the undercroft," Merlin noted.

Gwen shook her head slightly. "After seeing all those skeletons, those men she must've done this too before, I fear what we'll find down there."

Gareth placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "He's only been gone a day. There's still plenty of hope."

Only once Gwen had squared her shoulders and given him a nod did Merlin bend over and pull on the door hidden in the grass. It didn't budge. After watching Merlin struggle for a few moments, Luned moved to help him. Even with both of them tugging, the door would barely lift at all.

Lamorak rolled his eyes. "Out of the way, children," he ordered calmly, pushing them without malice to the sides.

The large knight grabbed hold of the metal handle and pulled. Though they could all see his muscles straining under the weight, it still looked too easy for him to lift the door out of the way so they could enter.

With a pant, he wiped his dry brow. "See? Easy. But let's not close it behind us, just the same."

Looking a bit baffled, Merlin said, "Hellawes must've enchanted it to be heavy enough that no one could open it. It can't possibly be that heavy normally. It's made of wood."

"Forget enchanted doors, Merlin," Gareth chastised. "Let's get down there and get out of here. I don't want a repeat of the chapel and the longer we're here the more chance of that there is."

Down the few steps into the undercroft, they found that the skeletons of the bell tower were not as populous but still existed. They paid little heed to the bones and armor, however, when they realized they could hear a quiet voice murmuring.

"You'll be so good to me," a woman was saying, her tone suggesting she was talking to her lover.

The undercroft wasn't a large space, as the chapel above it was not a large space, so it only took a minute or so to find the speaker. Dressed in white, her flame red hair barely touching her dark shoulders, Hellawes was just as beautiful as Luned had described.

They immediately spotted Lancelot with her. He was lying on a plain bed, pushed into an alcove in the undercroft, with a few precious candles giving light to the area. He was still in his armor from the day before, even his sheathed sword, but his eyes were half-lidded and unseeing.

"Hellawes," Luned said aloud. "Let him go."

The witch either did not hear them or pretended not to. Gareth, Lamorak, and Luned unsheathed their swords and advanced on her, Merlin and Gwen behind them.

"Your spell on the chapel is broken," Merlin informed her. "Release your enchantment on Lancelot and we will spare your life."

Hellawes smiled down at Lancelot and gently touched his hair. "Oh precious, do men not say the sweetest things? But words do not sate me. Only action can be trusted."

A ring of something like fire moved out from the bed. Lamorak and Gareth were flung backwards, Merlin a moment later, and landed with awful thuds on the stone ground behind them. Amazing, there was no burning, no flames. However, the spell left an ache in Merlin's bones that was proving hard to shake off and his pushed himself up from the floor to his knees. Gareth and Lamorak just groaned and didn't make to stand again.

Unimpeded by the spell, Luned rushed at the bed. His sword fell from his hand with a shout, the hilt glowing red with heat, before his blow ever got near the witch.

"Give yourself to me," Hellawes was saying to Lancelot, as if the others in the room posed no threat at all. "Let your life be mine, oh honorable knight."

Gwen moved past Luned, who was clutching his hand, and made a grab for Lancelot on the bed. Her fingers closed on his chainmail and she pulled with all her might. Like the door to the undercroft, he would not budge. Luned grabbed Lancelot's arm as well and put his weight into the effort, but they could not make the captured knight move.

Hellawes did not lift her gaze from Lancelot's. She touched him gently on the nose, then trailed her fingers down over his armor to where his heart was. "Just one kiss, my sweet. Will you give me that? That is all I require."

Lancelot began to lift himself up, as if there were no spell of weight on him. Gwen clutched more firmly to his sleeve.

"Lancelot, no!" Luned shouted.

Gwen's voice called out at the same moment. "Please, if you can hear me, stop!"

And stop he did.

His lips were a bare inch from Hellawes' but she did not close the distance herself. "My love?" she asked sweetly, pressing more firmly over his heart.

"No," Lancelot's voice was a murmur. "I do not love you."

Merlin pulled Gareth to his feet while Lamorak used the wall for support, his grip shaky on his sword. They all look over abruptly at Lancelot's voice. They couldn't see him through Luned and Gwen's bodies, but his voice gave them hope.

"Do not leave me," Hellawes said like a beg, like the weak woman who had first approached the knights on the road. "I need you."

Light edged into Lancelot's eyes once more. "I cannot stay. I have to return to the one I love." Gwen's hands jerked on his sleeve and Lancelot tore his gaze from the witch's. His eyes widened. "Gwen," he gasped, voice clear, as if waking from a dream.

Luned hurried to pull Lancelot from the bed and was grateful when his body moved, free of the spell. With Gwen and Luned pulling, and Lancelot scrambling to find his own unsteady feet, the trio was halfway across the room with Merlin and Gareth by the time Hellawes had risen from the bed herself.

"How dare you," she spit out.

Gareth joined the mix in helping Lancelot stand. "Time to go," he said as they all scrambled for the door.

"You sheep in wolf's clothing," Hellawes was saying as she followed after them. The skeletons along the floor began to jerk and twitch, getting to their feet as if they still had muscles to move them. "You who would side with men, who wears a sword and armor like it can protect you. They will eat you alive just as they have eaten me!"

A row of armored skeletons stood between them and the door to the outside world. The candles by the bed burned brighter, the flames reaching toward the ceiling.

"I will have your life for interfering," Hellawes claimed haughtily, standing only a few feet from them now. "You and the knights who stand with you. You and the lovers you claim to protect."

Luned released Lancelot and turned on Hellawes. "Oh stop talking!" he shouted. "If you want to fight me, then _fight me_ , but stop talking about it!"

"Merlin, kill the skeletons," Lamorak said behind Luned.

Merlin blew a space in the skeleton ranks big enough for them to get through the door, but just as they reached the steps, more skeletons blocked their view of the sky.

Luned ran the few steps to Hellawes and landed a punch to her face. The witch stumbled and then looked at Luned with wide eyes, as if shocked to have been struck. Luned used the momentary distraction to dart around her and grab his sword from where he'd dropped it before, the hilt now cool in his grip.

Just as he stood upright, the bed was cleaved in two behind him. Hellawes was glaring at him, her hand outstretched from where she'd cast the spell.

The skeletons were being blown apart one after the other by Merlin, but it was like fighting a floor. For every one he destroyed, two more appeared. Gareth and Lamorak did their best against the ones in the undercroft with them, but their swords had little effect on empty bones and merely kept the skeletons at bay while Merlin tried to blast their way out and Luned kept Hellawes busy.

"You will bend to my will," Hellawes stated. "I will have you on your knees and begging before your end."

Luned stared her directly in the eyes and tightened his grip on his sword. "No you will not," he said. "As you said, all men give in eventually, but you know as well as I that I will never give in to you. I have something far more precious to return to than this dark grave."

Hellawes, if possible, glared harder. She looked like an angry lioness, her features more feral by the moment. With a shout, she began throwing magic at Luned like a tornado throws wind. Luned rolled to the side to avoid the first attacks, wincing as the whole building shook with every spell that hit the walls. Before Hellawes could calm enough to direct her attacks at Luned once more, there was a dagger in her side.

She gasped and all the spells stopped. The skeletons even stopped moving, though they did not fall. Turning around, Hellawes was met with Gwen's hard gaze.

"Sister of mine," Hellawes huffed out. "You would wound me?"

Gwen shook her head. "You're too cruel. Look at all the people you've hurt."

She motioned to the skeletons but Hellawes did not remove her gaze from Gwen's face. Hellawes lifted her hands to Gwen's cheeks with a gentle smile, then lowered them and grabbed her around the neck in one swift movement. Gwen had barely wheezed, her own hands gripping Hellawes around the wrists, when Hellawes' eyes went wide and her grip slackened.

With no final words, the witch slumped to the floor, Luned's sword pulling free from where it had been embedded in her back. The skeletons dropped as well, breaking into pieces as they hit the hard ground.

Looking away from the bloody sword in his hand, Luned met the eyes of the other knights. "Let's get out of here."

…

…

Dinner was tense that night. Gwen and Gareth prepared it while Merlin tended to Lancelot's shoulder and clearing away any magical residue from Hellawes' spell. Lamorak sat on one side of the fire, Luned on the other. No one spoke unless they needed to. There was no conversation while they ate the rabbits Lamorak had caught, nor as Gwen and Merlin cleaned the dishes and packed them away.

The fire had begun to dim when someone addressed the elephant in the room.

"So, that witch," Lamorak broke the silence. "Was she saying what I thought she was saying?"

His question was aimed at Luned across the fire, but Luned did not answer him. After a moment too long pause, Lamorak frowned. His tone was harder when he next spoke.

"A sheep in wolf's clothing," he repeated. "You who sides with men. I thought she was talking to the lady Gwen here, but then _you_ answered her." His eyebrows drew down on his forehead. "She took Lancelot but ignored you. Her spells affected all us men but you."

Once more, Luned kept his eyes down and did not respond. His face was pale in the firelight.

Lamorak growled and punched the log he sat on so hard that it splintered, making them all jump. "Admit it! You've been lying since the day you showed up in Camelot!"

Luned lifted his green eyes and scanned the faces of all those gathered around them. No answer was still an answer. If what Hellawes had implied and what Lamorak was accusing were not true, all Luned had to do was deny it. It they weren't true, he already would've said.

Without a word, Luned reached his hands down and began to peel off his tunic and mail. Gwen covered her eyes briefly, then reconsidered and put her hands up in front of Merlin and Lancelot, the two men closest to her. It didn't do anything to block their view.

Luned's skin was tan even under the clothing. They could all see the healed burns on his right side, crawling up his curved abdomen and ribs, a reminder of the fight with Mordred's army. Then, covering Luned's chest, was the proof that he had been hiding all along.

"What is that?" Gwen asked curiously, lowering her hands.

Luned reached up and lightly touched the fabric that held tight to her chest. "It's…well I've been calling it a chest presser. Laudine had one fashioned for me years ago, when I decided I wanted to be a knight. I was never very large in the chest to begin with, but this…shirt of sorts, keeps me looking as flat as any man."

"You're a girl," Merlin gasped out suddenly, as if the truth of the situation had just hit him.

Green eyes met blue. Then Luned nodded. "I am as female as Lady Guinevere."

Lamorak scoffed, drawing the attention back to himself. "A woman among the ranks of Camelot's knights!" he said. "It's disgraceful!"

Just as Luned's face began to redden in shame, Gareth placed a hand on her shoulder. His hard gaze, when she looked at him, was on Lamorak.

"What's disgraceful about it?" he asked. "The fact that she can wield a sword better than half of us? Or has as much endurance and drive as Percival? Or can drink many of us under the table?" He tilted his head slightly. "Or perhaps what you find disgraceful is the fact that we all would have died back there had it not been for Luned, being immune to Hellawes' spells and helping Gwen do what we weak men could not."

Shocked silence met Gareth's speech. He was right, of course. Luned was just as good a knight as any in Camelot and had not shied away from any bonding event they had shared as brothers-in-arms. Luned had kept a level head throughout this mission, as the men around her and Gwen had fallen to pieces in Hellawes' spells. She had even killed the witch herself, saving Gwen's life and theirs.

"If there is any fault in her being a lady, then it is in the knights of Camelot for not accepting women into its ranks," Gareth continued. "If you can't accept her, even after she had proven herself so fully, then perhaps you are the one the knights should feel disgraced by."

Luned shook her head once, looking at Gareth with disbelief. "You're taking this rather well," she breathed out.

Gareth met her gaze. "I've known since the Albion Battle," he admitted with a slight blush. "You saved Gareth and me from that witch's spell, when we would have ended each others' lives. I apologize that I haven't known how to react around you since then. I have been no better than Lamorak, treating you differently because of something you cannot change. I swear, on my honor as a knight, that it will not happen again."

Gwen smiled at his sincere words and leaned in to Lancelot's side. He curled an arm around her waist.

"How come so many witches can control men?" Lamorak asked, sounding petulant.

Luned gave a half smile. "Because men are so easy to fool," she joked, though it was obvious she wasn't sure how well it would be taken.

Unexpectedly, a robust chuckle burst forth from Lamorak. "I suppose that is true," he admitted. He still looked uncomfortable, though his tone was obviously trying to hide it, when he said, "After all, you've managed to fool the lot of us with no magic at all."

Merlin snapped his fingers. "So the woman I saw with Laudine at the festival was you," he said. He shrugged with a smile before Luned could form a response. "I was confused at the time, since you two had seemed so close, but now it makes sense."

"It also explains why Percival didn't recognize you at Duke Landunet's party," Lancelot chipped in, shifting so that Gwen could lean more fully on him.

Luned shrugged. "Perhaps. Though I wasn't lying when I said I liked to use the time to train. I don't remember him either, so it's very possible that we really had never met." It was obvious she was loosening up as everyone failed to attack her the way she had expected.

Gareth pat her once on her bare shoulder, then paused. "Uh, perhaps you should put your clothes back on now," he suggested. "If it's all the same to you."

With a blush, Luned nodded and hurriedly pulled her tunics and mail back on. She smiled around at all of them, even as she adjusted her clothes and ran a hand through her now messy hair.

"Thank you," she said. "Truly. Being a knight has always been my dream, and though the Duke and Laudine supported me, Camelot was the first and best chance I could have at making it reality. I've been trying to find some way to tell you all the truth, but…"

Her smile faded as her gaze fell. Merlin completely understood.

"I kept a secret for a long time," Merlin began, drawing Luned's gaze. "From everyone. You're afraid of what those closest to you will think. You're worried what will change once they know. And you fall into a habit of keeping it, where every day you say nothing makes it harder to speak up." He smiled gently at her. "I understand."

"And so will the others," Lancelot added after a moment. "You're just as much a knight of Camelot as any of us. Like Gareth said, if they can't see that, then it's them who are wrong. Not you."

As the others gathered gave their agreement, a sudden thought occurred to Merlin. What would Arthur say when he found out?

…

…

With Lancelot's horse back in Camelot, he had to share a horse on the ride back home. Obviously, he rode with Gwen. All the knights agreed they were perfectly disgusting in how cute they were, whispering to each other and hugging and cuddling, all while riding a horse.

When they had all dismounted in the courtyard, they saw Arthur standing at the top of the castle stairs. His expression was stony and ended all jovial teasing in an instant. The king turned and walked into the castle without a word. The knights, plus Merlin and Gwen, glanced worriedly at each other before following.

Had something happened while they were gone?

They found Arthur, as expected, in the Round Table room. It seemed to be his favorite place to be these days whenever he needed to think.

"Arthur," Merlin said, the first from the group to speak. "What's happened?"

Arthur turned to face them, standing with his arms crossed. The sun from the high window made his hair seem almost golden but did nothing to ease the tension in his face.

"What's happened?" Arthur repeated. "As you were leaving, Gaius gave me some interesting and distressing news." His voice was as hard and angry as Merlin had ever heard it and it made everyone in the room tense. "It seems one of my knights has been lying to me. Luned," he finished, his eyes pulling from Merlin's to rest on the young knight. "Everyone else can go. I need to speak with Luned alone."

Gaius had known about Luned. He had to have. Gaius was the one to bandage the knights after battles. He must've seen something that tipped him off. And he'd told Arthur. Arthur knew Luned was a girl, and he obviously wasn't pleased about it.

When no one moved, Arthur growled, "I said, leave us."

"With all due respect, sire," Lancelot spoke up. "No."

The shock was enough to jerk the glare right off Arthur's face. He stared at Lancelot in open confusion.

"If you have something to say to our runt, then you can say it to all of us," Lamorak added, his big hand landing solidly on Luned's shoulder.

Arthur glanced at the knights, and then looked to Merlin for support. Merlin just gave a shrug, silently saying 'What do you want me to do? They're knights.'

Luned didn't remove her eyes from the king. "What appears to be the problem, my lord?"

Reminded of his intentions, Arthur shook himself. He kept his gaze on the smallest knight, as if trying to pretend the others weren't staring at him.

"Right," he said. "Luned of Landuc, you stand accused of lying to your fellows as well as to your king. Remember your honor and answer truthfully. Are you or are you not a female, previously a lady-in-waiting to the Countess of Landuc?"

Unlike around the fire, Luned did not hesitate. Knowing she had the support of a few friends gave her courage. "I admit I am female, sire," she said. Arthur jerked in surprise even though he'd already known. "I did not lie. I never said I was a boy. I simply dressed that way and everyone assumed."

Arthur shook his head. "Regardless, I must pass a judgement in this case. As a woman, you cannot continue as you have been." Already the knights' were standing as if ready for a fight. "I dismiss you from the ranks of Camelot knights."

"No!"

The chorus rang out at once from the three other knights gathered and Gwen. Gareth took a step forward, singling himself out.

"Sire, Luned is the only reason we were able to save Lancelot, and she has done more than her fair share of work as a knight. You cannot do this."

"She's as strong as Lucan and Percival, and a lot of others in our rank," Lamorak added. "She's completed every mission given her. To revoke her knighthood would be a disgrace."

Luned looked up at Lamorak in surprise. He winked down at her.

"She's earned her place, Arthur," Gwen added. "Is being female so much of a disadvantage?"

Arthur opened his mouth, then shut it, then opened it again. He looked a bit like a fish and it made Merlin grin.

"The Knight's Code-" he tried, but Lancelot, of all men, interrupted him.

"We've come far from the Knight's Code of your father's time," Lancelot said. "How many good knights would you be without if you followed its law? You made an exception for Pelleas, and for many good and honorable men since. Surely one more alteration is not uncalled for."

He said it so good-naturedly that it was hard to find fault in his logic. Arthur's unwritten Knight's Code was much different from his father's. What was one more change?

The golden king looked to Merlin once more. "Merlin?" he asked. So far the sorcerer had stayed quiet, letting the knights handle a knight's issue.

Merlin glanced around at all the faces now looking at him. They all knew his word held a lot of weight with the king. Despite their words, he could still overrule them. Looking back at the king, Merlin clasped his hands behind his back.

"I see no point in dismissing her, since she's already proven herself a worthy knight," he said, to the silent relief of the knights gathered. "Besides, if memory serves, your proclamation said anyone who could pass the knight's test could wear the red and gold of a Camelot knight."

For a long moment, Arthur just stared at Merlin. Then his eyes flicked over Lancelot, Gwen, Gareth, and Lamorak, to finally rest on Luned. He sighed and leaned back against the table.

"Fine. Fine, she's a knight," he admitted roughly.

Gwen clapped her hands while the knights cheered.

"However," Arthur continued, stopping their merriment. "There must be a punishment for lying to your king. You'll receive no payment for services for a month and spend a day and a night in the cells, starting tomorrow morning."

While not ideal, the terms weren't bad. Luned had been a lady-in-waiting for years and was used to small earnings before becoming a knight, and Laudine would hardly bat an eye at needing to pay for her love for one month. As the daughter of a Duke, she was hardly hurting for funds herself. It would be a blow to pride and honor more than purse. The same was true of the day in one of Camelot's cells.

"Also, you cannot lie to your fellow knights. How can they trust you in the field otherwise? I will not force you to tell them immediately, but I also will not be responsible for telling them. That is your job, your new mission as it were. Are we clear?"

Luned nodded, a light smile on her face. If it meant she could continue her service as a knight, she would endure whatever punishment Arthur commanded. "Yes, sire. Thank you very much."

...

...

tbc...

...

...

Sir and Lady Luned, for your viewing pleasure.

...

...

**Next Time: Merlin's Lady**

_One day, Merlin dreams that he will lose his powers and die. The next day, he meets a beautiful woman named Nyneve. Although he's certain she is the one who will kill him, Merlin can't help falling in love with her. The king is confused and reasonably upset, but what can he do?_


	2. Merlin's Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Arthur are one of Camelot's worst kept secrets, though everyone pretends they don't know. However one day, Merlin dreams he will lose his powers and die. The next day, he meets a beautiful woman. Although he's certain she is the one who will kill him, Merlin can't help falling in love with her. The king is confused and reasonably upset, but what can he do?

...

...

"Hello there."

Smooth olive skin. Long auburn hair. Youthful, kind face. Outstretched hand.

"Why?" he gasped.

"Because you're dying," her gentle voice replied.

The world was shades of brown and green. He couldn't move.

"Where's Merlin?!"

Sparkling brown eyes and the world went dark and still.

…

…

Merlin waved goodbye to the family he'd been helping and then turned his horse around and began to trot away. Usually his business as Court Sorcerer would call him far away from the castle, and thus he flew there as a bird or, if he _really_ wanted to make an impression for a foreign lord or lady, on the back of a dragon. Today's job was only a few short hours ride from the capital, so he rode a horse.

"Archie," he said to the falcon sitting on his shoulder.

Archimedes tilted his head to show he was listening.

"Fly to Camelot and let Arthur know I'm headed back early, would you?" he asked.

"We could fly together," Archimedes suggested. It was something both of them enjoyed doing.

Merlin laughed. "Sadly, I don't know how to turn a horse into a bird yet, so I can't. Otherwise poor Glydia would get lost." He leaned forward a fraction to pet his horse on the neck, then reached up to run his fingers over Archimedes' feathers. "I'll meet you back in Camelot in two hours. Maybe we'll go flying then."

With a pleased 'kiii!' Archimedes took to the air. He flew around Merlin and Glydia twice before finally heading off in the direction of Camelot. Merlin smiled until the bird was out of sight, then let it fade into a more pensive expression.

Traveling by horse was slower than flying, but Merlin liked to take the chance to enjoy himself. Now that Arthur knew Merlin was immortal and also the most powerful sorcerer to walk the earth, he let Merlin out on his own all the time. And while Merlin worried for the king every moment that he was away, he knew there were many in Camelot ready and willing to protect him in Merlin's stead.

Merlin's dream the night before clung to him like cobwebs: evanescent but sticky. He couldn't shake the image of that woman from his head, the way she held her hand out to him like a friend. And yet, despite that friendship, her intentions were for ill. She'd…killed him. He didn't know how, but she had. He'd felt himself fade away.

He was too skilled a sorcerer to believe it had only been a dream. Tethella even said that he would be one of the three most powerful seers ever to live as well. He would have to keep an eye out for the beauty from his vision.

Strange that all his visions of his own death seemed to come to him at night, while everything else interrupted his waking hours.

Still, Merlin was determined to enjoy himself. He had two hours until he was back in the castle, at Arthur's side. Perhaps he could make the king something along the way, an enchanted flower that would banish all foul smells for weeks or a sprig of herbs to keep all manner of vermin from the king's room for a few months. There were plenty of ingredients between him and the city and Arthur would enjoy being free of rats and flies as summer neared its peak.

Merlin hopped off his horse about half an hour later to rummage around in the brush and pick some sage. He put a handful into his medicine bag and pat it like he would a dog.

"Now, back to Camelot, Glydia," Merlin said to his horse with a pet of her nose. "I'm sure Arthur's worried about us and we've only been gone one day." Glydia snorted and shook her head, which made Merlin laugh. "Oh alright, you caught me. I'm missing him."

"Hello there."

Merlin jerked back from Glydia and snapped his head to the right, off the path he and Glydia had been following. Standing half hidden by a tree was a beautiful young woman with auburn hair, olive skin, and brown eyes.

The woman from Merlin's dream. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. He hadn't expected her to appear so soon!

Standing stiffly beside his horse, Merlin nodded to her. "Hello. Sorry, but I was just passing through and I'm leaving now."

He had his foot in the stirrup, hands on the reins, when her hand suddenly touched his. When had she moved? And so fast!

"You look important," she said, her voice full of innocent wonder. "If you wouldn't mind…I'd love to see where you come from. I love meeting new people and seeing new places."

She looked younger up close. In fact, she was probably younger than Percival and Luned, now twenty years of age. Her brown eyes really did sparkle in the sunlight. An unbelievable calm infected every inch of Merlin's body and he felt himself beginning to smile.

"I suppose…I could lead you there," he heard himself saying before he'd even thought it through.

…

…

Arthur was standing on the castle steps when Merlin arrived, thanks to Archimedes' report. He'd been prepared for a welcome back hug before they sat down for dinner. What he had not been prepared for was the site of Merlin riding leisurely into the courtyard with a beautiful woman in the saddle behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist and smiles on both their faces.

"This is the castle courtyard," Merlin said, like a bad tour guide, waving his arm to encompass all that was around them.

"It's beautiful," the woman sighed happily.

Merlin nodded. His eyes landed on Arthur and his smile widened. "And here is the king," he said proudly, pulling his horse to a stop just in front of him.

"Here is the king," Arthur repeated dully. "Who's your guest, Merlin?" He would deny the jealous tone of his voice to his grave.

Fortunately, Merlin didn't catch it. He helped the woman slide from the saddle before dismounting himself. Almost as soon as his feet hit the ground, a stable hand was there to take Glydia from him.

"This is Nyneve," Merlin said. "Nyneve, King Arthur Pendragon. Arthur, Nyneve."

Nyneve blushed, the pink color making her look younger and more innocent than she already did. "My lord," she greeted with a low curtsy. "When dear Merlin found me in the woods, I never imagined I'd get to meet the king."

Dear Merlin?

Arthur took a deep breath. "Yes, well, life is full of surprises. Merlin, even more so." Merlin pouted but didn't actually seem upset. "Are you in need of any assistance?" he asked in his gentlest voice.

Now Nyneve shook her head, her auburn curls bouncing around her shoulders and down her back. "Oh, no, sire. I like to travel and see new places, meet new people. Merlin and I just ran into each other. It was like destiny."

Destiny. Yes. Merlin and Arthur's destiny, not Merlin and _Nyneve's_. Arthur shook his head.

"Right. Well then, I hope you enjoy your stay in Camelot," he said. "There's an inn just outside the inner wall that-"

Merlin gave a derisive snort, cutting Arthur off. "An inn, Arthur? Nyneve's been traveling a long way. I think we can do better than the inn. She can stay in the castle."

Arthur gaped at his sorcerer. "Says who?" he asked.

"Says me," Merlin replied. "We have plenty of room and no royal guests coming to stay for at least a month. Let her have a room."

Arthur shut his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Merlin, who stared evenly back. After several long seconds, Merlin gave a wicked grin.

"She could always stay in the tower with Gaius and me-"

"Nyneve, was it?" Arthur broke in, turning his attention on the beauty beside them. She nodded. "I think I know just the room for you. Come, let me show you."

He held out his arm to her, ignoring Merlin's triumphant look. When Nyneve took his arm, Arthur turned and began leading her up the stairs and into the castle. It was only for a day, he reasoned. No harm would come in a day.

Behind him, Merlin blinked rapidly and glanced around the courtyard for several seconds before entering the castle as well, but going the opposite direction.

…

…

Morgana was just finishing up teaching Luke the incantation for a pain relieving potion when there was a series of knocks at her door.

"Keep reading the spell," she said, even as she moved to see who was bothering her. Most people avoided whatever room magic lessons were going on in. "Merlin!" she gasped upon seeing him on the other side of her door. "I didn't expect to see you today."

Merlin nodded, a bit distracted, as he entered the room. Luke gave him a wave, which he returned. "Morgana, when you were with Morgause, did you learn about any other witches?"

Morgana shut the door and motioned for Merlin to sit. "Quite a few, yes, though we only rarely met with any of them. Morgause was very suspicious of others."

"Did you meet a witch?" Luke asked in excitement.

The older wizard gave a shrug. "I think so. Does the name Nyneve sound familiar?" he asked Morgana. "Sort of brown red hair, brown eyes, skin a bit like…like an olive? Very young. Beautiful."

Now Morgana's eyes were wide. "Merlin, is it possible you've met someone? Someone…besides my brother?"

It seemed impossible. Merlin and Arthur were destined. It was literally like the universe created them strictly for each other.

"No!" Merlin insisted, so forcefully that both Luke and Morgana leaned away from him. Merlin took a deep breath. "I had a dream about her and then she just appeared in the forest, and…things are…strange, when she's around."

Morgana took a moment to blink and breathe, then hedged, "Wait, are you saying this woman is here now? You found her in the woods, you think she's a witch, and you just brought her back here?" By the end of her question, she sounded irritated.

Merlin didn't even flinch. He gazed back at Morgana with the same intense look she was giving him. "That's my point, Morgana. I wouldn't do that, but I did, so I need you to look into her while I keep an eye on her. If she's dangerous to Arthur, I need to know." He shook his head. "There was death in my dream and…and I need to keep Arthur away from it. I need to know if she's dangerous to him."

His words were so sincere that it took Morgana a moment to respond. Merlin was really worried right now. In fact, glancing down, Morgana saw that his hands were clenched and yet still shaking. That alone made her gut clench and her heart move.

She nodded. "Alright, Merlin. I'll see what I can find out," she promised. Merlin immediately relaxed. "You go keep an eye on this woman. Luke and I will get to work."

"Awww, what?" Luke whined. "Why do I gotta do research with you? I thought we were practicing potions!"

Her sharp eyes cut him off. "Why, Luke," she said in a honey sweet voice, "I would think you would find this very interesting. You'll be learning all about the magical community." And somehow, someway, she made that sound like a threat.

"Well. I. That is," Luke stumbled under her gaze.

Merlin thanked her and, with barely a wave goodbye, left his apprentice in the clutches of what was truly a terrifying witch. Luke watched him go with betrayal in his eyes and a helpless hand reaching for the slowly closing door.

"Master….," he mumbled, before squeaking when Morgana's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Come on, Luke, we have work to do," she said with a smile.

…

…

The stable hands were long gone when Nyneve pulled Merlin inside. The moon shone high in the sky and the horses startled awake at Nyneve's giggling voice.

"I've never seen so many stallions in one place," she gasped, releasing Merlin's arm to hurry over to the nearest one. She ran her hand over the black spot in an otherwise white coat on its neck. "They're absolutely beautiful."

Merlin nodded, a fond smile on his face. "The king buys and raises only the best horses," he said. "A few are gifts from nobility, but Arthur's always liked picking his own steeds. If he were a commoner, I think he'd breed horses."

Nyneve continued to rub the black and white horse gently even as she pushed her long auburn hair behind her ear with her free hand and turned to gaze at Merlin. He had gone immediately to Glydia, who nudged her head against him in excitement, thinking they were going somewhere secret and important tonight.

"No adventures tonight," he said, and it sounded like an apology because it was. As much as Merlin disliked being in danger, and as gentle as Glydia was, she loved going on all the crazy missions he and Arthur got up to.

"Merlin," Nyneve said, voice soft and a tad unsure.

"Yes?" he replied, running his fingers down Glydia's forehead and laughing when she blew air in his face when he was done.

"Are you happy here?" the young woman asked.

Merlin glanced at her and then stopped playing with his horse when he saw her pensive expression. "Yes," he answered truthfully. "Happier than I thought I could be."

Nyneve gave a secret smile. "And you…care for the king?"

"Yes."

"And do you care for me?"

Without hesitation, Merlin once again said, "Yes. Very much." He frowned. "Is something the matter, Nyneve?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No. Say, what is your opinion on rocks?"

Now Merlin gave her a bemused look and furrowed his eyebrows. "Rocks? They're…well, rocks. Some are nice to look at, I suppose, but they hurt too. I've never really thought about it."

Nyneve giggled like Merlin had told her a joke. "Rocks are terribly boring," she agreed. "Is that horse yours?"

"Yes," Merlin answered, switching subjects at random just as Nyneve did. "Her name is Glydia, and she's carried me through many trials."

…

…

Gwaine threw his opponent's sword wide and then shoulder checked him, knocking the knight off balance and sending Pelleas to the ground with a startled yelp. He laughed, but stopped abruptly upon seeing Merlin in the distance. With a lady.

He helped Pelleas stand again almost without thinking about it, and waved distractedly when the other knight said, "I think it's time for a break. You've thoroughly beaten me today," and wandered off.

"Lancelot," Gwaine said, then whistled as if calling a dog. Only moments later, Lancelot was beside him, though looking a bit put out at the way he was hailed. "Look."

Lancelot followed the direction of Gwaine's gaze. "Merlin and Nyneve?"

Gwaine nodded. "Ain't it strange to you?" he asked. "I don' think I've seen Merlin by himself since she go' here."

"Is that a problem? Merlin's usually with someone, helping people is his job now. People other than just Arthur and Gaius," he amended.

Now Gwaine scowled. "No! I mean, he's always with her!" He gestured in Merlin and Nyneve's direction. "With Arthur, I'm used to. But it's been two days an' she's still here! An' he's still with 'er!"

Lancelot held his chin in his hand. "Now that you mention it, that is rather strange," he admitted. "Arthur told me she was only staying for a day, but you're right. It's the second day and she doesn't seem about to leave. And she and Merlin appear very close." His face paled. "Do you think…she and Merlin are…?"

Gwaine's expression could curdle milk now. "No," he denied like thunder. "Merlin wouldn't do that ta the king. An' I don' know about you, but I haven' seen his highness throwin' a royal tantrum, so there's no way they ended things between 'em. No. Somethin's fishy and I don' like it."

Lancelot nodded. "I'll see what I can find out from Arthur."

A snort. "Ya mean yer gonna ask Gwen to ask him," Gwaine corrected, then waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever it takes."

…

…

Merlin collapsed at the table in Gaius's chambers and huffed a sigh.

"What's the matter, Merlin?" Gaius asked, a smile in his voice. "Did the knights challenge you to a duel again?"

Merlin shook his head against the wood he was resting on. "I just walked around, but I feel exhausted," he complained. His voice was serious when he next spoke. "I think it's Nyneve."

All humor left the old physician as well. He abandoned the poultice he was preparing and came to sit at the table with his nephew.

"Did Morgana tell you who she is?" he asked.

Again Merlin shook his head. "No. Morgana left to meet a contact of hers, said she'd be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Luke's still checking the books when he isn't running around after Arthur. But…Gaius, it's the strangest feeling. I don't…when I'm around her, I act so strangely. My chest is warm and I smile and I want her to be happy." He sighed again. "I'll do anything to make her happy."

Gaius lifted his eyebrow, but Merlin couldn't see it the way he had his face pressed into the table so it had little effect. "Merlin," he said, clearing his throat. "Instead of being a witch, is it possible that…perhaps you simply find this girl attractive?"

"No!" Merlin grumbled. "Well, yes, fine, she's very beautiful. But-But Arthur-I…," Merlin's face turned bright red. "I…love Arthur."

Merlin pushed himself up into a proper seated position and Gaius had to admit that it seemed to take much more effort than it should. The strain in his ward's face made him worry.

"If there's attraction, it's a spell," Merlin continued. "It has to be a spell. I forget my concerns as soon as I see her. I almost forget Arthur entirely when I'm around her. Gaius, if she asks me a question, I'll answer it honestly. It doesn't matter what she asks. I can't stop myself."

A surprised snort of noise came out of the old man's throat. "Now that does sound like a spell, and a potentially dangerous one. Who knows what secrets she could ask you?"

Merlin let himself bend over the table again. His voice was slow with the beginnings of sleep. "I know. For now she asks innocent things. About horses, flowers, my friends, food. Today she asked if I ever thought about living in a cave." He yawned. "My father did it, but I don't think I ever would…I'd have to leave…everyone…"

Gaius sighed. "Go to bed, my boy. We can discuss your concerns with the king tomorrow."

Merlin was already asleep on the table before Gaius finished speaking.

…

…

The sun had just risen when Gwen made her way to Arthur's chambers. Lancelot had approached her with his concerns about Nyneve and Merlin yesterday just as he was leaving her home after dinner. She knew Morgana and Luke were investigating Nyneve for Merlin, so she had assured Lancelot that his worries were unfounded. When he had insisted she had agreed to ask the king for clarification.

Really, all it would take was one statement from Arthur to put all of this nonsense to rest. Everyone knew that Merlin and Arthur cared deeply for each other, even loved one another. To think Merlin would leave Arthur, or worse, _cheat_ on him, was beyond comprehension!

"Oh," Gwen let out, seeing a young blonde head leaving Arthur's rooms. "Good morning, Luke."

He glanced up from the tray he was balancing and gave a weary smile. "Morning. Though how good it is depends on the person." He nodded back to Arthur's door with a frown. "If he were anyone else I'd say he was moping." Now he grinned. "But kings don't mope like normal people."

Gwen shook her head. "Oh they most certainly do. I can assure you," she said, then smiled. "Be careful taking those back to the kitchen."

Luke snorted. "This? This is easy. It's everything else I need the well wishes for," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Gwen waited until the young wizard was out of view before knocking on Arthur's door. A soft 'Enter' from inside and she pushed the door open.

The king was seated at his desk, looking over some document or another. There was a piece of bread with jam on it hanging precariously from his mouth and a quill in his hand as he read whatever was before him. Glancing up, he hurriedly set the quill down and tore the food out of his mouth, sitting up straighter.

"Guinevere!" he gasped. "I didn't expect to see you this morning." He was obviously trying to be subtle about brushing crumbs from his shirt, so Gwen pretended she didn't see him doing it.

"Nor I," she agreed. "But there's been some concern among a few of the knights and I thought it best to come ask you directly about it. No need for baseless rumors and all that."

Arthur nodded. "Of course. What seems to be the matter?"

"It's about Merlin."

The bread hit the desk at an odd angle and flipped to land jam side down on the floor at Arthur's feet. His face had gone oddly pale and Gwen's went right along with it.

She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh no. Have you really ended it with him?" she asked in a near whisper through her fingers.

Arthur leaned over to pick up his bread so he wouldn't have to look at her. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I haven't ended anything."

Gwen frowned and lowered her hands just enough that they weren't covering her lips. "Has…has _he_ ended things? That doesn't seem like him."

Arthur frowned at his papers. "No, _Merlin_ hasn't ended anything either, though he might as well have."

Stepping forward, Gwen asked, "What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen him since that young woman came to town," Arthur admitted after a long pause. "He tricked me into letting her stay, and now the only glimpse I get of him is through a window as her escort." He glowered.

But Gwen knew for a fact that Merlin and Arthur had dinner together every night, unless one of them was away on a mission of some sort. Had Merlin really been skipping meals with the king?

"It's not a problem," Arthur began, anticipating Gwen. "If Merlin wants to end things, all he needs to do is come tell me. I may be the king but even I wouldn't force someone to be with me."

Now Gwen leveled her king with a glare. "Arthur Pendragon, how dare you doubt him," she asked sternly, like a mother with a misbehaving child. Arthur jolted in his seat. "I've seen the way he looks at you, the way you look at him. If someone doesn't know how you two feel about each other, they're choosing not to see what's right in front of their eyes. Merlin would never leave you."

She walked to the door.

"I'm going to tell the knights nothing is wrong. You'd better go and actually talk to Merlin. If there's a problem, it's one of communication, not feelings," she said. Then she left before Arthur could argue the point.

…

…

"I'm glad you agreed to eat with me this morning," Nyneve said, straightening her dress while Merlin stacked the dirty dishes to the side of the table.

Merlin shrugged. "Of course. Anything you want."

Gaius had raised a disapproving eyebrow when Nyneve had appeared this morning, and when Merlin so readily agreed to sharing breakfast. He'd said Merlin should go speak with Arthur, but Merlin was certain it could wait long enough for him to eat one meal with a beautiful lady. Luckily, the elderly physician had left soon after they began eating, saying he had some personal matters to attend to, and they were left to dine in peace.

Nyneve smiled. She put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. "Say, trees are kind of amazing, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Merlin agreed, mirroring her position. "They give shade and they're home to all sorts of animals and bugs. They're shelter. They're…alive."

"Yeah, a tree," Nyneve repeated, though it didn't sound like an answer to Merlin's statement. She perked up. "Let's go for a ride today, see the forest on some of those beautiful horses the king has."

Her teasing grin and the glint in her eyes was something seen more often on children playing games than adults, but if they took the horses without asking then it would amount to pretty much the same thing. Merlin gave a matching grin and nodded.

"Should we bring a lunch?" he asked, standing from the table and holding out a hand to help Nyneve up.

She shook her head as she stood. "No. It won't be a long ride."

…

…

Calling on your court sorcerer and being told he wasn't at home was annoying. Barging into his room, and later the room of the lady he's obsessed with, and finding no one was aggravating. Sending servants all over the castle and knights into town and not finding them? That was when King Arthur began to worry.

He'd begun to wander the castle, periodically shouting Merlin's name, when Gaius found him.

"Your highness," the old man called to catch his attention.

"Ah, Gaius," Arthur greeted. "Have you seen Merlin anywhere? It seems him and that girl have vanished without a trace." He tried to keep the ire in his voice but was worried he came across too, well, worried.

The physician's face fell and Arthur's heart went with it.

Oh dear. Merlin and Nyneve really were together now, weren't they? They were having a secret rendezvous right at this moment and Gaius was supposed to keep Arthur away. It would be a lie to say Arthur wasn't surprised, but he was more taken aback by the fact that Merlin hadn't said anything to him. Gwen was right, this wasn't like him.

"They're together, aren't they?" the king asked.

Gaius shook his head once. "I assume so, sire, but not in the manner I believe you are referring to. She came by this morning for breakfast and that's the last I saw of them," he said. "It was the strangest thing. Merlin and I had just finished eating and he was about to come speak with you, and then she appeared and it was like looking at a whole other person. I've never seen anyone behave so much like a character from a love sonnet in all my life. So I went to see what Morgana and Luke had discovered."

Morgana had been discovering something? Arthur knew she'd left early yesterday and returned late last night, but she hadn't told him why. He trusted that if it were something involving the city or the kingdom, she'd come tell him about it. But apparently the same wasn't true if it involved Merlin. She'd left to investigate something related to Merlin and Nyneve, and Merlin's strange behavior around her.

"And?" Arthur asked. A love spell making Merlin ignore Arthur and his friends made much more sense and, honestly, gave Arthur hope for the future. Love spells could be broken. Usually.

The old man sighed. "I'm afraid it's not good. Morgana found out that Nyneve is only one of the names people know her by, and Luke found an image of her in an old book under one of those names. They've told me she was a witch who has been around for over a century, eternally young. As far as Morgana could find, she's not particularly dangerous. She doesn't level cities or wage wars, though she has been in a position to in the past. Mostly she's a danger to others with magic. Sire, she gains her immense power by stealing it from other magic users."

Dread filled Arthur's chest. "And the strongest magic user in Albion is Merlin," he concluded. "Gaius, where are they? We need to get Merlin away from her."

"Luke went to fetch him from my chambers as soon as he finished explaining to me what he'd learned, but could not find either of them. He and Morgana are already working on-"

"Sire!"

Both men turned to see Luned hurrying over. Luned bowed to both of them before getting straight to business.

"I've found out where Merlin disappeared to," she said. "The stable hands told me they saw Merlin leave about an hour ago with that new girl."

Arthur cursed, which caught Luned off guard. "Do you know which way they were headed?"

Luned shook her head once. "The stable boys said the forest, but I don't know where exactly."

Before Arthur could even groan, Gaius spoke up.

"Then we need a sorcerer who can work a locator spell."

He turned and began hurrying down the hall. Arthur sent Luned to have all the knights start searching the forest, then hastened to Morgana's room, certain that that was where Gaius was headed anyway.

…

…

True to her word, Nyneve led the ride on horseback for only about an hour before she pulled her horse to a stop. The forested area around them looked just like any other part of the forest. Merlin didn't know why she had chosen this spot, but he dismounted when she did.

"This is a lovely spot," Nyneve said. "There's just enough space between the branches above for you to see the sky."

She turned and grabbed Merlin's hand, pulling him a few feet from the horses before he could finish tying them up. While Merlin was worried they would wander off, he couldn't find it in himself to admonish Nyneve.

"Do you like this place?" she asked, leaning in and whispering it in his ear like a secret between children. Merlin nodded and she giggled. "Good."

The auburn haired woman leaned back just far enough to look into Merlin's eyes. Blue met brown and caught. She traced a finger down his face from his forehead to his chin, a gentle smile on her face.

"You are so beautiful," she whispered. "So much strength, kept within you, fighting to get free. It makes you glow like a star."

Merlin was still puzzling out her strangely heavy words when Nyneve leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The weariness from the night before returned at the same time he lost feeling in his legs.

"What?" he breathed out, one hand touching his aching head and the other reaching down for his leg.

He blinked hard and it felt like the world came into focus. The bright green of the grass and the brown of the tree bark, the full and thick branches, the blue sky. Nyneve's olive skin, glistening as if faintly polished, her long auburn hair swaying in a soft breeze.

A forest with a beautiful woman.

Why was he here? Where was Arthur?

"You," Merlin said, an accusation in his voice. "What have you been doing to me?"

Nyneve still smiled, seeming childish and young. "Magic can do a lot to a person, especially to the person who wields that magic. I just used that energy coming off you in waves and made it make you like and trust me. It's my specialty."

Merlin grunted, a spasm of pain shooting through his body. "Why?" he asked. It felt like his body was shutting down. "To get me out of the way?"

"Not really," Nyneve said, sounding just as innocent as she ever had.

"To get to Arthur." How come he hadn't seen through this? He'd dreamt this! He'd known it was happening!

She clasped her hands behind her back and beamed at him. "No, silly. To get to you."

The crisp clarity of the world was fading again, but in an entirely different way. The world was turning fuzzy, as if he was looking through thin fabric pressed right up against his eyes. "Wh-," he gasped out.

Merlin tried to step back from Nyneve, away from whatever she was doing to him, but found he couldn't move his feet. Looking down, he let out a startled shout. His feet weren't there! In their place was a tree stump, its roots already burrowed deep into the earth and spreading out around him. As he watched, his legs began to turn to wood, crawling slowly up his body and making him go numb.

"Áblinnan galdor," Merlin said. He felt his magic gather at his command, and then pain shot through him and he flinched so badly that he nearly overbalanced. "Áblinnan galdor!" he shouted, then cried out at the bolt of agony he felt a moment later.

Nyneve made a 'tsk' sound. "I told you, Merlin, magic can do a lot to the person who has it." She gave a shy smile and took a step closer, as Merlin lost feeling in his arms. "But don't worry. Soon, it won't be yours anymore. Soon, it'll be mine. And I'll use it to stay young and powerful forever."

"Why…Why did your spell wear off?" Merlin asked. He was panting now. Getting air into his lungs was difficult when it was like tearing bark off a tree. "Why not keep me trusting you until I was dead?"

"I didn't take the spell away," Nyneve said with a cute wrinkle of her nose. "It wore off because you're dying."

Merlin's eyes widened.

" _Because you're dying," her gentle voice replied._

_The world was shades of brown and green. He couldn't move._

" _Where's Merlin?"_

Arthur. Arthur would come here. Arthur was coming and Merlin was dying and there would be no one to stop Nyneve from killing him or whatever her plan was. Merlin renewed his struggle against the spell, ignoring the pain in his muscles as they fought against the spell turning them to wood and the pain in his heart with every spell he tried to cast.

Glydia whinnied somewhere behind him and stomped her feet.

Merlin couldn't move anything anymore, not even his neck. He was stuck looking at Nyneve's ever innocent gaze. If it weren't for the frantic beating in his chest, Merlin would never guess there was anything sinister about the girl standing in front of him. His vision was frayed, blurring, not like fabric but like the skin of a leaf. Beech.

Merlin remembered this from his dream. This powerless feeling, the loss of everything that he was. He wasn't going to make it.

With that concession, tears spilled from Merlin's eyes. Nyneve's own eyes narrowed and she tilted her head to the side, confusion plain on her face.

"Please," Merlin begged, fighting for the words. "Arthur. Please don't…hurt him."

Sparkling brown eyes widened and then the world went dark and still.

…

…

Arthur's horse slid to a halt, nearly unseating the king, when he pulled on the reins too fast. Arthur turned around in the saddle, to where Luke was sitting on his horse several feet back. The young man's eyes were wide and his hands were shaking where they held the reins.

"Luke?" Arthur asked, dread already pooling in his gut at the shell-shocked look on the young wizard's face.

"I…I can't," he stuttered. "I lost him. The spell, it was working, just like Morgana said it would, but it…I can't feel him anymore."

Arthur clenched his hands around his own reins tightly. "What does that mean? Did it wear off? Did something happen to Merlin?"

Luke lifted dark eyes to his king and Arthur saw fear there. "I don't know."

Taking a deep breath, Arthur shook his head and faced forward again. "It was right ahead before, you said, right? So we'll keep going." He glanced back at Luke and did his best to give a reassuring smile. "Merlin isn't dead, Luke. As a prophesied pair, I think I'd be able to tell."

Maybe.

They only rode for another five minutes before Arthur saw the other horse. After years of Merlin always picking her to ride, Glydia was easy to spot.

"There," he said, turning to ride for her.

Glydia wasn't tied to a tree or a log or anything. She was just there. She turned fretfully in a circle and dug at the ground beneath her hooves and snorted, tossing her head from side to side, and generally just gave off the feeling of being very very spooked.

Just past Glydia, Arthur caught sight of Nyneve. She too was simply there, standing amidst the trees and staring up at the bare glimpse of blue sky coming in through the canopy above.

"You," Arthur called out to her. "Nyneve!"

She turned slowly to face them, only the barest hint of tension in her youthful body. Her cheeks were pink with more than youthful flush but otherwise she looked just as she had when Arthur had seen her with Merlin the day before.

Dismounting, Arthur put his hand on his sword hilt and stalked toward her. "Where is Merlin?"

Nyneve shook her head slowly back and forth. "You're too late," she said, her voice breathy, as if she herself could not believe the words coming out of her mouth.

Luke tumbled out of his saddle. "He's not-!" the boy tried to say as he struggled to untwist his ankle from the stirrup and stand upright. He grunted once he'd managed it. "He's not dead! Don't say it!" he shouted angrily.

The witch's gaze traveled around the trees that surrounded them. "He chose life. Rocks are hard and caves are lonely," she half chanted, a small smile on her lips. "Nature is life and magic. In every leaf and bug and animal, every shaft of light and trickle of water. I've never seen the world the way he did."

Luke strode forward with a scowl. A wind was picking up. "Tell us what you-!" he started, but stopped when Arthur's arm shot out to stop his advance. The wind died down.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked, voice hard but steady, his grip tight on his sword.

Nyneve's brown eyes met Arthur's blue ones. "He's dead."

As quickly as Luke's anger had appeared, it vanished, and took Arthur's breath with it. Luke began to shiver and he shook his head roughly from side to side.

"Lying," he said quietly. "You're lying. You're lying!" The straw haired teen spun around and began running from tree to tree, looking for anyone hiding nearby. "Merlin! Merlin!" Arthur's chest clenched at the tears that began running down Luke's cheeks, the catch in his voice as he continue to call out for his master with no response. "Merlin!"

Were they really too late? Was Merlin gone, just like that? Without a trace? How had it happened? Was it fast and painless or slow and excruciating? Had he suffered?

The leaves of the trees rustled in a breeze and Arthur felt light again, the heaviness leaving his chest. His grip on his sword fell away and he turned away from Nyneve's innocent but sad gaze.

No, Merlin wasn't dead. Merlin wasn't dead because he couldn't die. The phoenix had made him immortal. Merlin was the strongest wizard in all of Albion. He wouldn't die this way.

There was a tall beech tree only three feet to his right. There was nothing particularly interesting about it. It looked like every other tree around them. Still, there was nothing Arthur could do to stop himself from walking over and placing his gloved hands on its smooth bark. A moment later he pulled away to rip his gloves off and place his bare hands on the wood.

Merlin talked about feeling the magic in the very air he breathed. Arthur had never understood it, never could. But in this moment, he could feel the magic running through this tree like blood in his veins.

"Merlin," he said, with a slight up quirk of his lips.

"Yes," Nyneve said behind him, causing Luke to stop rushing around in the underbrush.

"Áblinnan galdor!" Luke yelled, throwing his hands out toward the tree.

Nothing happened. Arthur didn't even feel a thing and he was right in the path of whatever spell that was.

"You're funny," Nyneve commented, an amused smile on her face. "That's the same spell he tried when he figured out what was happening."

Luke glared at her briefly before turning his attention back to the tree. "Then I'll just cut him out of there," he said.

Now Nyneve giggled, hiding her mouth behind a petite hand. "You'll only hurt what's left of him that way. He didn't teach you much, did he?"

Luke stomped his foot. "He's taught me plenty!" he defended his teacher. "Spells to defend and to attack, to heal illness and wounds, to start fires, clean armor, sharpen swords, muffle sounds." He clamped his eyes shut. "I'm not powerful. I'll never be as strong as him. But he's my teacher and I-"

"I can teach you."

Nyneve nodded when she had all eyes on her again.

"I can teach you," she repeated. "His magic flows into me now. I can be your Court Sorcerer, take his place. Camelot really is a beautiful city with lovely people. I haven't liked a place so much in such a long time. I could help you like he did."

Arthur's sword was at her throat in the blink of an eye, surprising even her if the way her eyes widened said anything.

"Or I could cut you down where you stand," the king threatened. "Magic isn't illegal to practice unless it's used to hurt others. I would be justified in taking your life."

Nyneve nodded once. "Killing me won't end the spell though," she said simply, as if commenting on the clouds. Arthur did his best not to react, but she must have seen something in his expression because she nodded again with a little smile. "You were thinking my death would save him, but it won't. His own powers did this to him, and now they'll become mine."

Excalibur stayed at Nyneve's throat while Arthur tried to think. Nyneve said Merlin was dead, but he was the tree and the tree was alive, so Merlin had to be alive. They couldn't cut Merlin out of the tree. Luke's spells weren't strong enough to break him free. Nyneve wouldn't let him go. They could go back to Camelot, get Morgana and some of the other sorcerers, then come back and try it again. But if they did get Merlin out of the tree, what then? Would he have his powers? Or had all of that transferred to Nyneve too?

If Merlin didn't survive this, what would Arthur do?

Excalibur lowered until its tip touched the earth at their feet, then Arthur dropped it entirely. He ignored Luke's surprised gasp and knelt before this witch.

"Please," he said. Arthur hated giving in, but it was all he could think of to do. "Take me instead."

Nyneve giggled. "But you aren't magic."

Arthur shook his head. "No, but I have…a great destiny. Perhaps there is some power in that, or in my sword," he offered. "So I kneel before you and ask that you take my life and give Merlin back his."

"Sire!" Luke gasped.

Now the young witch looked curious. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward over the king, her eyebrows high on her forehead. "Why?"

Arthur shook his head. "Fate," he huffed out with a sardonic smile. "Since before I was born there have been prophesies about me. About what I would do with my life. When I heard them, I resented those prophesies. I wanted to be master of my own destiny. As I've learned more about magic, about the stories surrounding my rule, things have changed. I know now that nothing is written in stone, that the future is not always what it seems to be." He took a deep breath. "I know that no matter who has seen it, in my future there is a time when I will die, and a time when I will return to save my kingdom again."

Nyneve nodded excitedly. "I've heard so much about it. I wish I could be there to see you rise again," she said, and her voice was sincere.

How could she do something so terrible to other sorcerers, to Merlin, and yet be so innocent? Did she not understand that she was killing people? That what she did was wrong?

"No," Arthur continued, leveling his gaze on her. "You won't. And my men won't. No one I know in Camelot will be around when I return. I…I understand that. But Merlin will." He huffed. "Or, he's supposed to. But if you do this to him, he won't. When I return, I'll be alone. If I die, Merlin will suffer, Camelot will suffer, but they know that I'll be back and I will see them again. If Merlin dies, I will never see him again." He made sure to look directly into Nyneve's eyes. "I could not bear that." He shook his head once but did not look away from her. "I don't think anyone in Camelot could. There is no replacement for Merlin and there never will be."

"Sire," Luke said quietly from somewhere behind him, but he didn't turn around.

The warrior in Arthur wanted him to pick up his sword and fight. The grief of hearing Merlin was dead again made him want to punish the one responsible. But Arthur knew that if there was any chance of Merlin surviving this, he had to do this without a weapon. He had to appeal to this witch, with no idea what she could possibly want from this.

After several long moments of her just staring curiously at him, Nyneve took a small but deep breath and stepped closer. She raised a delicate hand and reached for him, making Arthur tense, touching his cheek softly. Nyneve knelt down so her face was even with Arthur's and smiled at him as she caressed his cheek.

"The last thing he asked of me," she said softly, "was to not hurt you."

Of course it was. Arthur closed his eyes, his lips thinning when he pressed them tightly together. He almost wanted to laugh. It was such a Merlin thing to do. Merlin always thought of Arthur, even in the most desperate of times. Maybe if he were more selfish he would notice when he was in danger more often.

Nyneve's hand pulled away and Arthur opened his eyes.

"This magic shines," she quipped lightly, "like starlight in a dark sky." She laughed and it sounded almost like bells. "I'd like to be a shooting star beside it, but I think the moon loves the sun too fiercely." Now Nyneve shrugged, taking a dancing step backward. "Others will feel like reflections in water in comparison, but I'll have to make do, I suppose. Who knows, maybe I'm too old to feel the world so deeply. Or too young."

"What does that even mean?" Luke demanded, stepping up next to Arthur.

Brown eyes laughed and pale lips smiled. Nyneve wrapped a lock of brown hair around her index finger, a perfect picture of youth. "He chose life. Now I choose it too. You should be happy, King Arthur."

Within one second and the next, the span of the blink of an eye, the young witch was gone. Arthur's chest ached. There she went, his last hope for saving Merlin. He'd failed.

Before Arthur could even work up a good cry, Luke shouted in alarm. Arthur grabbed Excalibur and flipped around without thinking, only to freeze in place. The beech tree was moving! The bark shifted, pulling in and down. The roots drew up out of the earth in an almost gentle fashion, leaving the barest mark in the ground that they'd been there. It shrank and changed shape until finally the bark was pulling away and becoming skin and cloth. Within five minutes, Merlin stood where the tree had been. As soon as his feet were no longer made of wood, the wizard collapsed to the ground.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, he and Luke hurrying to lift the dark haired wizard onto their laps.

Merlin groaned and opened his eyes just a crack. "How did you…?" he trailed off, voice weak.

Arthur laughed and Luke furiously wiped at his eyes.

"Pure dumb luck," the king said. "And a little bit of magic."

…

…

"It's weird," Gwaine commented, flipping his sword over his wrist like a toy.

Lancelot glanced at him from where he was seated on a bench near the training field. "What's weird?"

Gwaine shrugged and switched hands. "Merlin hasn't been by himself in two weeks."

The short haired knight sighed. "Sometimes I feel like you'll find anything to complain about," he said, though with no heat. "You didn't trust Nyneve, which granted was founded, and now you're upset because he walks around with knights?"

Gwaine stopped playing with his sword and plopped down next to his friend. "No. I'm glad he's had the protection, what with his awesome powers bein' drained and all that," he said, flipping his hair out of his eyes. "It's jus' weird that he needed it at all. Even before we knew he was so all powerful or what not, he never had a guard like he's had these weeks. And now it's weird to see 'im by 'imself cause I got used ta seein' him with a knight."

Lancelot let out a short laugh and pat Gwaine on the shoulder. "Change happens, Gwaine, but things are going back to normal now. You'll get used to it."

With a playful shove, Gwaine snorted. "Shut up, I know tha'. I just liked knowin' I was helpin' him again. He's usually the one helpin' me."

A nod. "True. I've rarely seen Merlin need help," Lancelot agreed.

He looked out at where other knights were still training in the dying light of the day. These last two weeks, Arthur had sent patrols out all over Camelot for any sign or word of Nyneve, but she'd disappeared like morning mist on a hot day. According to Gwen, Morgana had told Arthur that she might not reappear for years, given the nature of her powers. Lancelot hated waiting games, almost as much as Arthur did, but that was what they were forced to do. Keep an eye out and hope they could handle the strange little witch next time. After all, they were all strong men and women, but none of them could accomplish what Merlin could. The knights needed more training to defeat a witch like Nyneve.

He let out a breath. "It's…nice, knowing that even a great sorcerer, or a great king, need assistance at times. It makes me feel useful."

Gwaine let the silence hang for about three seconds before snorting. "His highness always needs help. That's not new!"

"We could all use help with Nyneve," Lancelot commented. "She vanished and no one's seen anything of her since, which is actually a good thing if you ask me. I don't think any of us are ready to fight her yet."

Gwaine's good humor vanished. "If I ever find her, I'll put her on the chopping block myself," he muttered darkly. "She let Merlin go, but she still tried ta kill him, and I won't forgive her that."

Lancelot smiled sadly and let Gwaine's comment go. Other than Arthur, Gwaine was probably the most bitter about what they'd almost let happen to their resident Court Sorcerer.

Instead of replying, Lancelot stood up and dusted his hands off on his tunic. "Come on. I think there's a bard at the tavern. You can tell him all those stories of your fake adventures and see if he'll sing about them."

Even as he followed happily along, Gwaine complained, "Hey, they aren' fake! Every single story I've told is wholly true!"

"Because of course you beheaded a knight and he kept on fighting," Lancelot said indulgently, causing Gwaine to splutter. "Or found a woman locked in a tower who only dreamed of having your love."

"That happened!" Gwaine insisted, a bright grin on his face even as he turned red.

Lancelot shrugged. "We'll see if the bard is as gullible as the stable hands."

…

…

Luke beamed when the fire sparked to life merrily, then turned to where Merlin sat at Arthur's desk.

"Your magic's all back!" he cheered.

Merlin nodded, fiddling aimlessly with the papers and scrolls on the wood top. "It was never gone, really. I think it was more hiding to get away from what Nyneve did to me. But it's all back now, and I feel as good as ever."

"That's a relief," Arthur noted, coming out from behind his changing wall in his sleep clothes. "I was worried about you for a moment there."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Believe me, I'm aware."

Luke grinned at Arthur's blush. Arthur had kept Merlin under pretty much twenty-four hour guard for the last two weeks, only letting up when Merlin was taking a bath or using the toilet. It was always humorous to Luke to see how the king fumbled through showing affection.

"Does this mean we'll start practicing again tomorrow?" Luke asked hopefully as he gathered up the last of the dishes from Merlin and Arthur's dinner.

A nod. "You and the knights," he said. "I've been reading up on ways to detect when someone is using a glamour, whether by a charm or a spell. Figured that might be useful to know."

Arthur leaned his hip against the edge of the desk, his back to Luke, and looked down at Merlin. "You're not too tired for that?"

Merlin let out a small sigh. "No, Arthur, I'm not too tired for-" He stopped abruptly when he lifted his eyes to the king's. "I'm not tired."

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself not to groan. He did _not_ need to be here for this. "Well then, Merlin, sire, if you don't need me I'll just be going now," he rushed out, already heading for the door.

"Bye," Merlin said in farewell, but the king didn't take his eyes off Merlin or say a word to show he'd even noticed Luke was gone.

If Merlin wasn't tired now, Luke would bet he'd be tired by the morning. And oh, he really didn't need to think about that. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Where's Mordred?" he asked aloud as he practically slid down a stairwell. Mordred had returned to Camelot three days ago to visit with Merlin and Morgana. Luke would take Mordred to see the traveling bard in town and fill his mind with fantastic stories from around Albion instead of disturbing images of his two masters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Time: Choice of Fate**  
>  An old woman comes to the castle to force Arthur into marriage, but noble Gwaine takes the king's place. Now he will be forced to marry the witch unless he can answer her question. His friends are ready to help him out, but none of them know the answer. What do women want most?


	3. Choice of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old woman comes to the castle to force Arthur into marriage, but noble Gwaine takes the king's place. Now he will be forced to marry the witch unless he can answer her question. His friends are ready to help him out, but none of them know the answer. What do women want most?

...

 

Merlin had never liked council meetings. Now that he was _part_ of the council, he liked them even less. Sure, now his opinion was acknowledged and he didn't have to try whispering them in Arthur's ear anymore, but he also had to pretend to be alert and attentive whenever a lord started complaining about the issues at his manor house.

He much preferred the Round Table Council, which Arthur was holding more and more often while holding fewer and fewer council meetings. At the Round Table, everyone spoke equally of their opinion. While the topics were the same – grain shortages, bad weather, bandits, weddings that needed Arthur's blessing, and the like – the way they were presented was different. The knights truly cared about the land. They were from the land, from all walks of life, and they did their best to help everyone, not only the elite.

What Merlin was enduring at the moment was no council meeting. Today Arthur was hearing the complaints of the common man, as he regularly did. Merlin cared about the people of Camelot, but not as much as Arthur did. While many of the petty fights between farmers annoyed Merlin, Arthur always appeared deeply engrossed in their tales and did his best to get the best outcome possible for all parties involved. He had more patience than Merlin, that was for certain.

Currently, Arthur was listening to a man whose wife had sold their pigs for cows, but they had been cheated because the cows weren't producing milk and now the family was starving. Merlin let his eyes drift to the others in the room as the man continued to explain their situation to his attentive king.

Behind this man was a pale youthful lady and her young yet already strong-looking son, then an old woman in clothes that looked to be one wash from falling to pieces, with one brown eye and one blue eye, whose skin was an ashy grey. At the old woman's complexion, Merlin perked up. That old, withered grey was not a natural color for skin. Not to mention the odd shape of her ears. Perhaps she'd been cursed and needed the Court Sorcerer's help.

She was muttering under her breath, holding her clasped hands near her mouth as if to breathe on them for warmth. She was ever so slightly shivering, so it would make sense. Her back was bowed with the weight of too many years and her arms and legs were thin and spindly. Her ears pulled down from her head in an inverse point, almost like a sad dog. Merlin wondered what kind of curse turned your skin grey, or if that was perhaps the curse itself. What had the old woman done to make someone curse her? Had she been cursed for years or was it recent?

As the man left and the woman and her son moved forward, Merlin got a better look at the old woman.

Though her body was old and frail, her eyes were bright and keen. There was a determined glint to them that belayed her appearance and gave Merlin pause. That expression was not one that someone under a curse and looking for a cure would wear. That was the look of someone with a plan that was about to come to fruition.

Merlin was vaguely aware of Arthur accepting the young boy as a squire to one of the knights, though he didn't catch which one. Then the mother and son left and the old woman was stepping forward. As she moved, her steps uneven but sure, the truth smacked into Merlin.

The woman wasn't cursed, she was _casting_ a curse!

"Arthur!" he shouted, turning to where the king was seated almost directly next to where Merlin stood. "She's-"

The old woman threw her clasped hands out in Arthur's direction before Merlin could do or say anything more. Golden dust seemed to fly into the air and land on Arthur, but it vanished as soon as it touched his clothing. The old woman smiled. "I appreciate that you meant to protect your king, but you were too slow, young man." Her voice was like smoke escaping through cracks in a rock.

Arthur's kind gaze had turned cold. "What did you just do to me?" he asked in a voice like hard stone.

The old witch lifted an eyebrow at him. "I cast a spell to bind you to me," she admitted freely. The knights around the room stiffened and their hands went to their hilts. "It is not dangerous and no harm will come to you through it," she continued mildly.

"Then why cast it?" Merlin asked. What was her goal here?

The witch smiled at Merlin like he was a particularly stupid child. "Marriage," she explained. "The king must now marry me."

Merlin and Arthur glanced at each other and held gazes. Again? Another witch trying to come between them? So soon? Was this destiny's way of saying that they weren't meant to be? They had united most of Albion by now, had accomplished so much together, but was destiny against them being together the way they were?

"It is his majesty's choice, of course," the witch continued, "however he should know that if the spell is not obeyed and no marriage occurs, all of Camelot will suffer a terrible famine for one hundred years."

She said it as if commenting on the weather, as if the starvation of thousands of people meant nothing to her. Yet there was tension in her body that Merlin could not explain.

"And I don't suppose killing you would help," Merlin stated coldly. He may not care for day-to-day stories of woe as much as Arthur, but he still wanted to protect Camelot and her people. This woman didn't seem to care at all that they would be hurt by her spell.

The grey skinned woman shrugged her hunched shoulders. "No, not really. Though I commend your resolve, my lord." A frown graced her face then, something sad and lonely, as she returned her attention to the king. "I truly do not mean harm to your people, sire, but a curse is upon my life as well and I had no choice. I have lived so long alone, been rejected by so many, that this seemed my only option."

From the gathered crowds of peasants and knights, Gwaine stepped forward until he was within two steps of the old witch. He bowed to his king briefly.

"If I may," he said, though Merlin knew it was for show. Gwaine would do whatever he had planned whether Arthur said yes or no, and they had to trust he knew what he was doing. Turning to the witch, Gwaine continued, "If marriage is all you want, then remove yer curse from the king an' place it on me instead."

"Gwaine!" Merlin gasped.

Who knew what marriage to this woman would be like? Other than casting the spell, she seemed homely enough, but they didn't know anything about her. Gwaine loved going to taverns and flirting with travelers and maids and bards and anyone who would give him an ear. Was he really okay with marrying an old loathly witch?

Gwaine turned, his hair doing that flip that Arthur had always been not-so-secretly jealous of, and gave Merlin a reassuring smile. Yet, his eyes looked sad, and Merlin wished there was something he could do. But he didn't know what spell the woman had cast, nor how to break it.

"You would willingly take his place?" the old woman asked, as surprised as anyone in the room. "You'd marry an ugly old hag like me?"

"Gwaine, don't," Arthur said, an order, gripping the arms of his throne with white knuckles.

Ignoring Arthur and facing the woman again, Gwaine nodded. "Our king is a kind man, an' he cares about his people more than anyone I've ever met. Ta keep them safe, he'd do jus' about anything. But he also has a rather remarkable other half already, an' I'd hate ta see 'em broken up like this. As fer me, I'm unattached, an eligible bachelor of sorts. So marry me instead an' leave 'em be."

It only took a moment for the golden dust to rise from Arthur's skin, which must have felt strange since Arthur gasped, and fall upon Gwaine instead. The magic was done. Merlin clenched his fists. He felt so useless! What good was he as a Court Sorcerer if he couldn't stop something like this from happening?!

"You will be a fine husband," the old witch said with a creaky smile. "I admire your nobility, sir. I'd like a happy marriage, not one turned bitter by regret, and you have a righteous soul. So I'll give you the key to break my curse."

Gwaine's eyes widened. Arthur was already moving to stand from his grand chair. "How?" he asked. "How do we break the spell?"

The woman shook her head. "What is your name, sir knight?" she asked, sounding more like someone's kindly grandmother than a threat.

"Sir Gwaine," he introduced. "An' you, my lady?"

Blushing at his address, she gave an unsteady curtsy. "Ragnelle. Sir Gwaine, you can break the spell by answering one question correctly."

Riddles. Merlin hated spells controlled by riddles. The answer was always a puzzle on its own and you never knew if you were wording it correctly or if you had it just slightly wrong and the caster would penalize you for it.

Locking her eyes with Gwaine, Ragnelle asked, "What do women want most in this world?"

"What?" Gwaine let out, confused. Was that the question that controlled the spell?

Ragnelle smiled at him, her bent and broken teeth making it look lopsided. "You have two weeks to consider your answer, my knight. If you cannot find the answer by then, we shall be married or the spell will take its toll on the people of Camelot. If you find the answer, then the spell will be broken and all will be well, and I will submit myself to the mercy of your king's justice."

…

…

Arthur acted immediately. Ragnelle was put under guard and a plan of action was made. Merlin, with Archimedes at his side, would fly to Ealdor and the country beyond it to the east. Bedivere, Dinadan, and Geraint would head north to the Northern Plains, Griflet and Kay would go to Mercia. Kay and Lionel would head west to Caerleon. Pelleas and Lucan would head to Nemeth, Sagramore and Urien to Mora. Tristan would return home to Cornwall. They all had the same mission, ask any lady they met what they wanted most in the world.

Morgana and Luke, along with the rest of the knights and the guard, were left to protect Arthur and the city. Gwaine was to search for the answer around Camelot and the surrounding cities. The reasoning for this was simple, though Gwaine hated it – if something happened to him on a long trip and he was not back in time to give Ragnelle her answer, all of their searching would be in vain whether they found the correct answer or not.

"Luned!" Gwaine greeted heartily as he approached the young knight in town.

She was with her lady, seeming deep in conversation, but they both looked up when he called her name. Their serious expressions told him they'd been talking about him before he walked over.

"Gwaine," Luned greeted in turn, nodding. "I was just talking to Laudine about the question the witch Ragnelle gave you."

"If you need an answer, we can give you some," Laudine offered. "I don't know if they'll be the one she wants, but they'll be true for us at least."

Gwaine smiled. "Tha' would lovely, thank you." Exactly the reason he'd come to them, actually.

"To always protect those I love," Luned said, a determined glint in her eyes. "I never want to fail and lose those closest to me."

She reached over and took Laudine's hand without a word, and Laudine graced her with such a look of love that Gwaine's heart ached. After a moment, the countess realized they were waiting for her answer as well and drew her shoulders up.

"What I want most is very similar. I am a countess, the daughter to a duke. I have many responsibilities and many people who count on me. I want never to let them down, to always be able to accomplish what they need of me," she said, almost as if giving a speech in court.

While similar, they weren't exactly the same thing. When he'd asked Gwen earlier, she had said she wanted to help people. They didn't quite match up, but they had a similar base, he supposed. Perhaps the answer could be 'to help those they love'? Gwaine ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it.

"Did that help at all?" Luned asked, a frown pulling her lips down even as Laudine placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Gwaine sighed, then grinned and said, "Maybe," in a light tone so they wouldn't worry. "I'll keep 'em in mind. Thank you, ladies." With a bow, he left to ask someone else.

The pattern of 'helping people' didn't last, and Gwaine was back to square one with no idea what connected the hopes and desires of women involved in the court and those of common birth. He went to bed that night worn out and muttering a pep talk to himself.

…

…

This wasn't the first time that Gwaine had been forced to eat while guards stood around and watched. It wasn't the first time he'd eaten a meal with an ugly woman either. It was, however, the first time both events had happened at the same time.

"What were you like when you were younger, Sir Gwaine?" Ragnelle asked, her voice sounding like gravel in her throat, as she ate of the fruit laid out before them.

He may be marrying Ragnelle soon, and thus she would likely eventually know about his noble lord father and his time cavorting with stuck up aristocrats as a small child, but Gwaine wasn't about to admit to that while under the careful watch of two of Camelot's inept castle guard.

"Ah," he let out with a charming smile. "The story o' my life is too boring fer private talk and too exciting fer feasts. Tell me 'bout yerself instead. I'm sure a fine lady like yerself has plenty o' stories ta tell."

The guards frowned, no doubt at his compliment to Ragnelle. One actually rolled his eyes where she could clearly see it, and Gwaine almost stood up and whacked the man. This was a witch who had cast a spell on their king, who was still considered enough of a threat to be under guard, and they were risking making her angry. Gwaine had seen a great many dangerous things, but a pissed off witch was one of the worst.

Instead of getting angry, Ragnelle simply gave a lopsided, sad frown and inhaled as deeply as her feeble body would allow. Her skin resembled the ash in a fireplace in the mid-morning sunlight from the windows.

"I was beautiful once," she began at length.

"Yer beautiful now," Gwaine was quick to compliment, and didn't flinch when she smiled, showing off her broken, discolored teeth.

"I appreciate your gallantry, sir, but we can both admit that I am a hideous creature," she said simply, no trace of bitterness in her tone. "I do not pity myself for my age or appearance, nor should you pity me. It is simply what is." Then her eyes became distant and her tone wistful. "But I was beautiful once. I had suitors from all around. My parents died when I was but a babe, and my elder brother inherited their fortune."

So she was a rich witch. Or, rather, her brother was rich.

"Did he practice magic as well?" Gwaine questioned her.

Ragnelle nodded. Gwaine took a long drink of his wine. "He was the most powerful wizard I'd ever seen, though now I know he was not nearly so when compared with those of Camelot. He gave me gifts all the time and we loved each other very much."

Gwaine could guess, from her solemn tone, that this story didn't have a happy ending. "What happened to him?"

The old woman gave a deep sigh that seemed to shift her very bones. "Our kingdom made a treaty with another, and our lands were lost to us. My brother's mind and heart were lost with them. He went mad and died within a month of the signing of the treaty, and I have been ugly ever since. What friendships I had were dried up with my fortune, and no man nor woman has been pleased with my presence. I am a wretched, loathly woman."

No matter her claims of suitors, Gwaine was certain that Ragnelle had been plain at best when young. Her wealth would have induced many young, greedy nobles to court her, and her doting brother would have doubtlessly told her she was beautiful every day, until she herself believed it. However, it was possible that, at some point, she truly had been beautiful. Still, the effect of the magic turning her skin grey and her considerable age had taken whatever beauty she once possessed and reduced it to nothing.

Still, the loss of everything she'd had struck a note with Gwaine. He had chosen to run away from the life of a noble, but he had still had to leave everything behind of his old life when he did it. He'd had no friends, no family to claim him, no wealth or treasures, nothing. By force or by choice, they had their loss, at least, in common.

Reaching out, Gwaine placed his hand over Ragnelle's on the table. Her skin felt like cold, damp leather, but he persevered.

"Well, it seems ya have one suitor left, Lady Ragnelle," he said, trying to joke about it.

The smile Ragnelle passed him was as pleasant as he was likely ever to receive from so mismatched a face, and she readily turned her hand over in his to grasp it in a surprisingly tight grip.

"I am no Lady, Sir Knight, but I am growing fonder of my substitute husband by the hour."

…

…

Gwaine had been sitting in the armory for just over an hour that evening when Lancelot wandered in. Upon seeing the usually boisterous knight simply staring at the wall, Lancelot shut the door behind himself and hurried over.

"Gwaine! I've been looking all over for you," he said. "I thought you'd be in the tavern or your quarters by now."

Gwaine shrugged. "Tavern's rather lost its charm when e'eryone jus' wants to ask 'bout my witch wife," he said sourly. "Can't even get a good pint. This is what my life has come to, Lancelot."

Lancelot's shoulder drooped and he sank onto the floor next to Gwaine. He laid his arms across his knees and clasped his hands between them.

"I asked more ladies what they wanted most in the world," he offered. When Gwaine turned his head to face him, he continued. "Morgana wants clarity, to understand her visions and gifts, and people, better. The baker's wife wants a new dress to replace the one her husband accidentally burned last month. The blacksmith's daughter wants the honor of making a suit of armor for the king. The tavern owner's wife wants a child and spent a good quarter hour explaining to me all the methods she's tried in order to conceive before I managed to get away. And every servant in the castle I've asked seems to either want money or to be married." He sighed. "I know none of that helps."

Instead of answering, Gwaine rolled his head against the wall to look forward again. He heaved a deep breath and closed his eyes, in a move that spoke of resignation to Lancelot.

"I swear to you, Gwaine, we will find a way to get you out of this marriage without bringing harm to Camelot," he promised effusively. "Even if we have to wait until after the marriage day. No matter what, you won't be forced into matrimony forever."

Now Gwaine shrugged. "Marriage to the old witch might not be so bad, actually."

Lancelot was struck dumb for a moment or two. "What?"

Gwaine opened his eyes. "I've been havin' breakfast with her every mornin', an' we went on a walk together today," he explained. "Did ya know she used ta be a fine horsewoman? She used ta be a noble lady but lost her title when her brother died, an' she's been traveling all alone fer almost two years now." He shrugged again. "I don' know…She seems more lonely than evil."

"You're the one who is lonely," Lancelot countered.

Ragnelle, the witch who laid a curse on their king and was forcing him to marry her – not evil? Certainly, Lancelot could understand the sentiment, a little. The witch looked like an old lady under a curse, her body bent out of shape, her skin discolored, her features askew. He could get behind the idea of her being a lonely old woman. But the fact remained that she had, for all intents and purposes, cast a spell on Arthur, one that Merlin could not break in the time allotted to them. She was forcing a member of Camelot's court into marriage and holding the entire kingdom hostage in order to do it. How could Gwaine not see any evil in that?

"Gwaine, I know you. We're friends," Lancelot continued cautiously. "You flirt with many people, but I know you do not truly care for them. I once thought the woman I loved to be beyond my reach. I was lucky to be wrong. You watch the one you love…You watch Merlin love Arthur everyday and you know there is no hope for you. But you cannot resign yourself to marrying an enemy of the kingdom simply because you cannot have him. That is a punishment you do not deserve."

Gwaine pushed himself to his feet smoothly and yet abruptly. He dusted off his trousers and stretched before turning to look down at where Lancelot was still seated on the ground. He reached out and pulled Lancelot up as well.

Still clasping Lancelot's arm in a friendly manner, Gwaine said, "I can promise you tha' I'm not marryin' her just because o' that. I've known me an' Merlin would go nowhere an' it doesn't bother me, honestly."

Lancelot remained quiet. By the look on Gwaine's face, he knew Lancelot did not agree, did not believe him. He released Lancelot's arm and put his hands on his hips.

"I can' explain it," the chivalrous knight continued. "The more time I spend with her the less it makes sense. She doesn' seem the type ta cast curses. But every time I ask abou' it she repeats that she felt she had no other options. I know she's ugly, no one can protest tha', but still...I feel like we're missin' somethin' here, Lancelot. Like there's more ta her than we know."

With a heavy breath, Lancelot clapped Gwaine on the shoulder. "For your sake, my friend, I hope that what we don't yet know is good."

He let Gwaine leave before him, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to follow immediately. The moon was bright through the windows, but it only made Lancelot feel more melancholy. There was no doubt in his mind that Gwaine had stepped forward and offered himself for marriage because of his feelings for Merlin. He'd said almost as much to Ragnelle in the court room. What Gwaine didn't seem to want to admit was that this marriage was actually useful to him. That, if Gwaine could not be happily married to someone he loved, he would marry someone that no one would question him being unhappy with.

It wasn't fair, and Lancelot prayed to every deity he'd ever heard a whisper of that they would find a way to make it right in the end.

…

…

The mood in Camelot, or among those in the castle, did not improve as the knights returned from their missions. While some of the answers of 'What do women want most?' matched from knight to knight, they did not match the whole.

Tristan found a woman who wanted a bushel of oranges from across the sea, and Dinadan found several ladies who wished for different husbands or not to be married at all, and a few responses matched Gwaine's previous finds of 'help those I love,' but mostly they were as varied as the women the knights encountered.

Someone to fix the town fence. A proper doctor nearby for the ill. For their baby to stop crying for ten minutes. Dresses, aprons, hats, shoes without holes or other wear and tear. Fresh strawberries, herbs, bread, and meat. To be able to hunt their own food like the men did. To be rid of the blisters on their hands. Fine hair, longer hair, shorter hair, no hair at all. A necklace, a ring, a bracelet, a headpiece, a sword, a bow and arrows, a mace, a hammer, a spear. To be young again, to be an adult already. The love of man or woman. To be powerful. To have magic. To see a missing or dead or long absent family member.

Merlin returned last of them all, the day before Gwaine's answer was due. All of his answers matched those of at least one of the knights.

"This isn't over yet," he said definitively. He gripped Gwaine's shoulder in a way meant to give him comfort. "I'll keep looking."

Then he turned and hurried up to his tower to search for a magical answer to the wedding problem.

When all of the knights and all of those trying to help him had left, Gwaine turned and headed for Ragnelle's room. The guards outside barely even nodded to him as he entered. The guards inside didn't react at all. Ragnelle was sitting in a chair by the fire, making the flames dance and knit themselves into shapes. She stopped when she saw Gwaine, a crooked smile forming on her lips.

"My gallant knight," she greeted when Gwaine gave a deep bow. "Your time to answer my riddle ends tomorrow. Do you have an answer yet? Do you know what women want most?"

Gwaine took the chair opposite her and shook his head. "'m not quite sure yet." He sprawled back in the chair, pushing his feet closer to the fire, and closed his eyes. "Don't know how I'll answer what women want when I don' even know what I want, not really."

Ragnelle let out a soft sigh of sound. "You are a good man, Sir Gwaine. And a smart one. I'm sure you will understand it soon."

And that was what kept confusing Gwaine. Ragnelle seemed to honestly want him to figure it out. She seemed to genuinely want him to get out of the marriage. Why curse a man to marry her and then encourage him to break it?

…

…

Arthur was in his chambers, enjoying a dinner with Merlin, attended by Luke, when there was a knock at the door. Merlin looked up from the magic book he'd been studying at the table.

"Enter," Arthur called.

The door opened, revealing Gwaine. Arthur frowned just seeing his knight. He was reminded of his own failings as king, that he had to simply sit back and watch Gwaine be forced to marry a witch to save the kingdom. Arthur didn't want to give Merlin up, but he still felt that if a sacrifice had to be made for Camelot, it should be himself, it should be the king.

"Gwaine," Merlin gasped, standing up so fast he nearly overturned his chair. "I haven't found anything about a marriage spell connected to a curse like the one Ragnelle cast yet."

Gwaine gave Merlin a fleeting grin and shook his head. "I appreciate the effort, but I'm actually here ta speak ta the princess."

Merlin let out an 'oh' and sank back into his chair as if he'd been chastised. Arthur pushed away from the table and stood to match Gwaine.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

Gwaine frowned and let out an annoyed breath. "Stop actin' like ya owe me somethin', fer one."

Arthur startled just a bit, his eyes going wide and his eyebrows reaching into his hairline. Gwaine had given himself up to save Arthur and Merlin's relationship, along with the kingdom. How could Arthur not think he owed the man? How could he ever repay him for that?

"Tha's what I'm talkin' 'bout," Gwaine grumbled, waving at Arthur but looking to Luke as if the young man would agree with him. Instead, Luke looked like being asked for assistance was gonna earn Gwaine a wine pitcher over the head. "There's a wedding tomorrow an' yer actin' like it's a funeral." He huffed and crossed his arms. "I've a plan fer the wedding, so everyone can be happy about it instead o' sad."

"More wine?" Luke guessed.

Merlin looked like he wanted to smile for a moment at his protégé's words, but Arthur ignored them entirely. "What kind of plan?"

Now Gwaine placed his hands on his hips and gave a grin that almost fooled everyone in the room into thinking he was really happy.

"I figure we got a lot o' happy couples here in Camelot, in the castle even. Why not have one big wedding an' have everyone get married at once?" he asked jovially. "It'd be one giant party fer me and the lady Ragnelle, and maybe Luned and her lady too, Kay and Gareth, and sweet Gwen and Lancelot obviously. And o' course you an' Merlin! Then people can stop tryin' to marry ya when yer already taken."

Luke obviously didn't know whether to be pleased or grossed out that his two masters would be married, but Arthur only noticed him for a moment before he turned his gaze on Merlin.

Luned and Laudine would love to get married. Arthur knew that. He'd seen Luned hovering, like she had something to ask him, but leave before the question left her mouth. He'd heard people talking. And he would be more than happy to grant their request, if Luned or Laudine would only ask. As far as Kay went, Arthur had never seen him so smitten as whenever Gareth was around or someone mentioned his name. Gareth was just as far gone on the older knight, if Arthur believed his own eyes and ears. As for Gwen and Lancelot, he would have to be blind to not see how much they loved each other. According to the knights who had faced Hellawes, Gwen had broken the witch's spell with her love for Lancelot. Lancelot was his most loyal knight. That was another marriage he'd known would come someday.

He and Merlin were the only one he questioned. Arthur would marry Merlin in a heartbeat, given the opportunity. The people had gotten used to magic being legal again. They'd accepted Merlin as Court Sorcerer in only a short time. The knights and everyone in the castle, by now, knew what Merlin was to Arthur. They weren't being subtle about their relationship. Surely the entire city knew, and they had began to gossip as they traveled. Arthur had no proof of it, but he knew how word traveled. Were the people ready for Arthur to marry a sorcerer?

Merlin, bless him, couldn't hide the excited spark Gwaine's idea had lit in him. His eyes glittered with it, his cheeks pinked, even his posture had changed. Merlin wanted to get married. All Arthur had to do was say yes.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," Arthur agreed, turning back to Gwaine while a broad smile lit every face in the room. Even Luke looked cautiously pleased. "I'll have the decorations and food for the feast tripled, and have a word with Geoffrey. And of course everyone will be allowed to invite their own guests from town if they wish. Luke."

Luke stepped forward.

"Fetch the head cook, a few of the decorating group, and Geoffrey. Tell them to meet me in the council chambers. We need to plan a quadruple wedding."

Every smile became a confusion frown. "Quandruple wedding?" Luke asked.

Arthur nodded. "Sir Gwaine and Ragnelle, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, Sir Luned and Lady Laudine, and Sir Kay and Sir Gareth."

Gwaine furrowed his eyebrows. "What about you an' Merlin?"

Now Arthur shook his head. "We will not be marrying tomorrow. Gwaine, go inform the other lucky couples. Luke, you have your orders. Now go, we have a lot to do in very little time."

Arthur did his very best to ignore the frown on Merlin's face for the rest of the evening.

…

…

The great hall was fit to bursting. Everyone who worked or lived in the castle was there, and half the town. There hadn't been time to invite guests from around all of Albion, but all those saying their vows had plenty of friends in and around the capital city to fill every seat and open space along the walls.

There were flowers of a multitude of colors strung in garlands all over the walls and along the aisles of seats, in bunches on the edges of the steps at the end of the hall where the vows would take place. There was plenty of light coming in through the windows all along one side of the hall, and a bit of magic had the light casting ethereal gold and silver glows around the room.

Only a single throne stood at the top of the steps, and King Arthur Pendragon sat in it. Merlin stood, as always, to his right. Arthur was dressed in his chainmail, red cloak, and crown while Merlin wore a deep red tunic and blue neckerchief, both looking fresh and new. Geoffrey stood to Arthur's left, and several pages were positioned along the wall behind him, each holding a chalice. Knights of Camelot, in armor, stood at attention as if guarding those that were to walk the aisle before them.

Trumpets sounded at the door, announcing the arrival of the lucky couples. Everyone turned their attention to the doors as they glided open.

A small band of musicians in the back right corner, out of sight of anyone walking in through the main doors, began to play soft, melodious music as the couples entered. First came Gwaine, Kay, and Lancelot, each wearing a cotehardie in grey, green, and blue respectively, and Luned in a red and white gown, all with their swords still hooked at their hips. They took places along the first step, all in clear view of everyone gathered.

The first lady to enter was Ragnelle. Her hunched, misshapen form had been hidden and made to look almost beautiful in a rich blue wedding gown. By the way her lips twitched up then down, then again, it was hard to say whether she was pleased or not.

Ragnelle was followed shortly by Countess Laudine in a dress made of the palest yellow and her golden hair done up in swirls and braids around her head and shoulders. Merlin often thought Arthur was the sun, but Laudine honestly looked like a sunbeam in mortal form.

After Laudine came Guinevere in light blue, the color contrasting wonderfully with her dark skin. Her long hair had been let down and then braided over one shoulder, and she looked as fine as any born lady of the court. Every lady wore a crown of woven orange blossoms proudly in their hair, as if they were made of gold.

Lastly came Gareth, dress in a black cotehardie and pants with green accents, his brown hair perfectly combed in a way it never was normally. He also wore his sword at his hip like the other knights. The doors shut behind him and he brought up the rear of the train of people heading for the altar.

Once all the couples were complete, standing with their betrothed before all of their friends, family, and acquaintances in Camelot, Geoffrey walked forward until he was between Arthur and the couples in the center of the platform.

"We are gathered here today to join together these, aherm, four couples," he began, falteringly. He then proceeded to give a longwinded speech about how such marriages had been performed for generations, and extolling the virtues of each person involved as if their heritage and accomplishments were necessary for some kind of marriage application. The monotonous exposition seemed to help him regain his composure.

Eventually, he waved the pages over. They each took up a position with one of the couples, standing facing the crowd so that everyone could see the chalice held up between the two lovers before them.

"Now, the exchanging of rings," Geoffrey said.

First Gwaine slid a simple gold band onto Ragnelle's spindly finger, and then she exchanged the favor. One by one, each couple took their turn placing a ring on their lover's hand. They all held hands afterward, and Merlin thought Gwaine did a superb job of not seeming to mind his wife's leathery cold skin in the slightest.

The pages handed over their chalices to the couples. They each took one side of the chalice, keeping it low enough that they could smile at each other over top of it.

"Drink now of this wine, symbolic of things to come, and be wed."

Things to come, indeed, Merlin thought. So much mulled wine would be consumed at the feast that he would be surprised if anyone managed the walk home.

Almost as one, every couple drank from their chalice, first one then the other. The gathered crowd stood and began to clap loudly, many people cheering as well. Even Arthur and Merlin joined in from their places by the throne.

Luned couldn't stop beaming, and when she saw her own happiness mirrored in Laudine, she couldn't help but laugh and pull her new wife in for a kiss. Lancelot and Gwen saw this and gave their own smiles. Then Lancelot pulled Gwen into a warm hug.

"I've never been so happy in my life," he whispered in her ear.

Gwen held him as tightly as she could – the chalice still held in her hand, and responded, "Nor I."

Meanwhile, Kay handed the chalice back to the page standing by and took both of Gareth's hands in his own. He ran his fingers softly over Gareth's, making the shorter man blush, and smiled. "Never thought I'd be married."

Gareth gave him a mock glare. "Well it's too late to back out now."

Kay scoffed. "Who's backing out?" he asked before leaning forward and planting a solid kiss on Gareth's lips.

Gwaine kept his eyes on Ragnelle. She was smiling, all of her crooked and mismatched teeth on display, as she looked around the room. For all that she was loathly and old, and that the marriage had been forced upon them, for the moment Ragnelle could almost have been said to be beautiful.

Pulling her hand up, the one with the ring on it, Gwaine placed a single kiss to the back of her hand. The action drew Ragnelle's attention. "Yer married now," he said.

Ragnelle nodded. In a croaking voice, she said, "And Camelot is saved."

…

…

The wedding feast and festival was still in full swing when Gwaine and Ragnelle took their leave. Gareth and Kay had left as soon as it wouldn't be rude to do so, but both Gwen and Lancelot as well as Luned and Laudine had still been enjoying the festivities when Ragnelle had turned to Gwaine and asked him to take her back to their chambers. Merlin hadn't been in the banquet hall all afternoon, and Arthur looked miserable for it.

The door to the chambers Gwaine and Ragnelle were to share was shut and locked behind them. Ragnelle went to the fireplace and breathed out "Bærnan" to light the wood settled there. Gwaine moved to the bed and sat down to remove his boots.

"Are you so pleased to have me as a lover?" Ragnelle asked, watching him pull off his belt next.

Gwaine let out a chuckle. "I've had a few lovers in the past," he admitted. "An' I'm always pleased."

Ragnelle frowned. "Wait." Gwaine stopped in the process of removing his trousers and looked up at her begging tone. "You are a noble man, Sir Gwaine. I must admit I have lied to you."

"Lied?" Gwaine asked. "What abou'?"

She was obviously a witch and obviously ugly. What could she have lied about that caused her distress now, of all times? Was she not beautiful when she was younger? Had she not been a noblewoman?

No. Her reason for casting the curse. That must be what she had lied about. Ragnelle had said she was lonely and wanted to get married but saw no other way than to curse someone into it. Gwaine had been thinking, more and more over the past two weeks, that there was something more to it, that she was hiding something. That must be what she was talking about.

Ragnelle only looked out the window, where the sun was almost set, and didn't answer.

"You didn't curse Arthur into marriage because you were lonely."

Ragnelle let out a sigh and then took a deep breath. "I didn't curse Arthur at all."

The last rays of sunlight vanished, only the flickering light of the fire remaining, and Ragnelle changed. Her bowed, twisted back uncurled, increasing her height until she almost matched Gwaine. Her ears shortened to the small, rounded shape of normal ears. Her teeth straightened and turned white. Her fingers, though still longer, gained width and strength. Every wrinkle vanished from her body, and her skin darkened from ash grey to brown to something that reminded Gwaine of a black onyx stone. Now she was tall, full figured, young, and dark.

Within seconds, Ragnelle had transformed from a hideous, disgusting woman into the most beautiful person Gwaine had ever seen, even when wearing a dress that hung off her body at odd angles.

He couldn't make his mouth work. His thoughts were a jumble inside his head and his tongue was thick behind his lips. Gwaine couldn't remember what he'd been thinking a moment ago, what he'd been about to say. He was completely lost.

"Sir Gwaine," Ragnelle began, almost questioning, and her voice was as smooth as her skin appeared to be. She quickly closed the space between them and dropped to her knees in front of him, looking up into his wide eyes.

She still had mismatched eyes – one brown and one blue. That was the only thought Gwaine could catch in his own mind.

"This is me as I was," Ragnelle began. She did not touch him, only met his gaze and held it. "Now that you have broken the curse on Camelot, I can tell you freely. My brother was Gromer Somer Joure, a lord of Meredor." Gwaine didn't recognize the name, but he'd also never been to Meredor across the sea. "When our king united Meredor with Albion, our lands were lost to us. In his anger, Gromer used me to place a curse upon Camelot. I was made ugly, unbearable to look at, against my will. Camelot would fall to ruin and despair for a hundred years unless a member of the court married me, a malformed witch. "

"The spell ya cast on the king?" Gwaine asked numbly.

Ragnelle shook her head. "A spell of protection," she revealed, "that no harm would come to the one forced to marry me. It was all I could think of to make up for my gruesome appearance."

That was why Merlin couldn't find a counter spell for the curse she'd cast. It hadn't been a curse at all!

"Sir Gwaine," she repeated, an entreaty in her tone. "By binding yourself in marriage to me, you have saved Camelot. Now, you can save yourself."

Confusion drew Gwaine's eyebrows together. "What d'you mean?"

The look on Ragnelle's face was one of sad acceptance. "The spell my brother cast…He used me in it because I tried to stop him. I knew it would cost him his life, and that Camelot did not deserve his wrath. But he had lost his mind to darkness and all of the love he once held for me turned to hatred. I am cursed, my knight. Camelot's curse is broken but mine remains." She took a deep breath. "Now you get to decide. I will either be loathsome by day and beautiful by night, or beautiful by day and hideous in your bed."

Even as she spoke, Gwaine knew she'd resigned herself to her fate. Did Gwaine want to flaunt her beauty to his friends, or keep it secret and make love to it in the dark of night? Was he willing to have people think his wife the ugliest creature they'd ever seen or share a bed with one? A younger Gwaine would have had difficulty choosing between his pride and his sex life. But Gwaine today, after everything he'd been through, after getting to know Ragnelle over breakfasts and on walks, reconsidered.

What did Ragnelle want? Did she want everyone to see her as ugly every day while she kept him company at night while she was as beautiful as the star laden sky outside? Or did she want everyone to see her as she truly was during the day, and hide her ugly side away in the dark? She had told Gwaine she did not pity herself for her appearance, for the curse upon her, yet it was clear she was unhappy.

Gwaine reached out, bridging the chasm that had sprung up in the few inches between them, and cupped Ragnelle's cheek. It was a soft as he'd imagined and she leaned into his touch.

"Yer a lady," he said. "By birth an' now by marriage. Dame Ragnelle. No one has the right ta make that choice fer ya," he said solemnly but with determination. "Which d'ya want, Ragnelle? The choice is yers."

Ragnelle reached up and covered his hand with her own, her eyes pinching closed in a futile attempt to stop the tears that were running down her cheeks. "That's right," she whispered, relief heavy in her voice and in the smile gracing her features. "You got it right."

Before Gwaine could ask what she meant, ashy colored smoke seemed to seep from her skin into the air, disappearing like a morning mist in the heat of day.

"What did I get right?" he asked, confused.

Ragnelle smiled up at him, opening her eyes. "What women want most is the right to make their own choices."

A smile fought to lift Gwaine's lips as well. "So yer curse? It's broken too?"

She nodded. "I choose to be beautiful for you, my noble husband with an equally beautiful soul, all of the time."

Happily, Gwaine pulled Ragnelle up and close to him, planting kisses on her lips and cheeks and neck while his hands worked to undo the now tangled ties of her incorrectly sized wedding gown.

"I'm buyin' ya a horse tomorrow," he promised against her jaw. "And ya can ride it anytime, anywhere ya want."

A giggle of noise leapt from Ragnelle's throat and she clutched Gwaine's shirt in her fingers as her dress finally came loose.

"My substitute husband," she whispered in his ear, "I do think I'm falling in love with you."

…

…

The wedding celebrations continued for three days. They only grew more rambunctious with the truth of Ragnelle's curses. No shadow of unhappiness held down the revelers anymore. To keep it that way, why Merlin had taken to the tower.

Camelot castle had many towers. Gaius' chambers took up one of them, giving Merlin's bedroom a grand view over the entire city. That room was now Luke's as well. But Merlin didn't want to be in his room, he didn't want to be found at all, but he wanted to still watch the people.

So he'd gone to the opposite tower. The rooms here mimicked Gaius', but currently they were used only for storage. Old paintings, unwanted gifts from nobility, and childhood mementos were scattered around in no particular order.

Merlin was perched in the window, staring down at the festivities below. From this far up, he couldn't tell who was who or what exactly was going on, but it didn't matter. He could still tell that everyone was having a good time. Sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else be happy, reminded him of the Spring Festival so long ago. He had given Arthur a ring so he could be with Gwen for the night, but Arthur had come back to him instead. Merlin clenched his right hand, where his ring from that night still rested, and leaned his head back against the stone wall.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the door to the tower opened and in walked King Arthur. He was dressed very casually today – a loose white shirt and brown trousers with no crown or armor in sight.

"Merlin! There you are!" Arthur half shouted, shutting the door behind him and stalking across the room to the window. "I've had people looking everywhere for you."

Merlin gave a shrug. "Sorry. I wanted to be alone for awhile," he said blandly, looking down at the party again.

Arthur let out a huff of breath. "Merlin," he said, and his voice had lost all its ire. "Gwaine's predicament ended happily, no thanks to either of us, and yet you seem discontent. What's the matter?"

For awhile, Merlin didn't answer. He didn't want to come off sounding weak or pathetic in Arthur's eyes. They'd known each other for almost ten years now. They'd grown up together. They'd united Albion together. Arthur knew everything about Merlin, and vice versa. They loved and respected one another. So why was it so hard to speak now?

"Merlin," Arthur began, exasperation edging in, and the sound was enough to burst the bubble in Merlin's throat.

"Why don't you want to marry me?"

He turned to take in Arthur, standing within arm's reach of him. The king looked surprised, then unsure. Arthur put his face in his hands for a moment and let out a long breath, like he couldn't believe this was happening.

"I'm fine with the way things are," Merlin hurried to explain. "I know you love me, and that I love you. I don't need a wedding to prove it. I don't need anything. What we have is already more than enough. It's just…" He sighed. "You seemed so adamant that we wouldn't be joining in the wedding. I guess I don't understand what's wrong with us getting married too."

Arthur reached forward and took Merlin's right hand in his own, his fingers brushing against the ring there. Then he grabbed Merlin's bare left hand as well, bringing both of them up until they were almost too high to be comfortable.

"There are things expected of a king, Merlin," Arthur began. "You know this as well as I do. I absolutely cannot get married in a mass wedding. I refuse to."

Merlin's heart leapt in his chest. It must have shown on his face because Arthur began to grin. He squeezed Merlin's left ring finger just a bit.

"When I put a ring on this hand, it'll be in a wedding bigger than this, and it will be only for us, do you understand?" he asked matter-of-factly.

Merlin felt a bright smile growing on his face and blushed, pulling his right hand back from Arthur so he could hide his joy behind his fist as he turned his face away. Arthur wanted to marry him and Merlin couldn't be happier right now. All the moping and brooding he'd been doing was for nothing.

Using his free hand, Arthur pulled Merlin's face back around to look at him. Then he flicked Merlin on the nose.

"Hey!" Merlin yelped, covering his nose with his hands and narrowing his eyes at Arthur.

"That's for getting all weepy," Arthur admonished haughtily. "Honestly. To think you doubted me, at this late stage." He shook his head. "You're ridiculous, always have been."

Merlin gave a cheeky smile as he lowered his hands. "And you're a clotpole. We make a perfect match."

Arthur's minor irritation at the old barb turned into a grin. "So I've heard, Merlin. So I've heard." He clapped his hands together. "Now are you going to sit in this dreary room forever or are you going to come congratulate all your friends on their new lives together?"

Merlin pretended to think about it. "A party sounds nice, I suppose."

He slid out of the window seat and headed for the door. Arthur linked their fingers and led the way.

...

...

_fin._

...

...

And, as a last treat, an image of Dame Ragnelle helping teach Luke a magic spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! That's all there is to this 'verse (other than the deleted scenes that will be coming out, but I digress). I hope you've all enjoyed the ride!
> 
> And thank you in advanced for any and all comments and bookmarks!

**Author's Note:**

> **Translations:**
> 
> Áblinnan galdor = cease spell


End file.
